/ 



New - Yorki November^ 1832. 

TO ALBERT GALLATIN: 

Sir, 

Will you allow me to inscribe this little volume 
to you J as an humble tribute of my respect and admi- 
ration, of my gratitude and esteem ? You being now 
in private life, I feel the greater freedom in the expres- 
sion of my sentiments, and may, I trust, indulge this 
expression, without an impugnment of motive. 

Although you are a civilian, there can be no incon- 
gruity in dedicating this miUtary memoir to him, from 
whose intellectual grasp no branch of human art or 
science is permitted to escape. You may feel, too, a 
special interest in tracing the course of a soldier, whose 
most signal exploit facilitated your own negotiations in 
the Treaty of Ghent. 

A Financier, Diplomatist, and Statesman, whose 
mind, acquirements, and character, (it is within my 
personal knowledge) are known and reverenced in the 
poUtical and scientific circles of Europe, and whose re- 
publican principles and public services have been em- 



IV 



phatically avouched by one of our political Patriarchs, 
Jefferson, in that pregnant phrase — " he is the fnam- 
mast of the vessel of State'^ — you may yet condescend 
at some leisure moment, during the intervals of your 
important avocations, to run over these sketches. It 
has not been within the vanity, any more than the 
ability of the writer, to emulate your own peculiar style 
of thought and of expression, which, hke a steam en- 
gine, accumulates a momentous power by compression, 
and exerts it with a corresponding expansive effect — 
a resistless energy of propulsion : Still these pages, 
though they can afford you no instruction, will present 
you, iyi the subject of them^ with a theme of national 
pride and a source of patriotic gratulation. 

GEORGE H. RICHARDS, 



PREFACE. 



The following pages were prepared some two or three 
years ago, for Samuel F. Bradford, Esq., to be inserted in 
his Annual " the Cabinet," which was published in con- 
junction with the Talisman. The memoir being too 
long for publication in that work, and the task of abbre- 
viation being irksome, a personal friend of Gen. Macomb, 
in my absence, kindly undertook the office of re-casting 
it in his own mould, and produced it with great grace, 
spirit, and elegance, as it appeared in the "Cabinet." 
This was satisfactory to me ; but many of the friends 
and connexions of the General, in this city, having been 
desirous that it should appear in full, as originally writ- 
ten, I have yielded, however indiscreetly, to their request. 

It is now, therefore, submitted to the Press, as a memo- 
randum for the historian — as a grateful reminiscence for 
the personal friends of the subject of the memoir — and 
as an humble, but honest record for those who love their 
country and that country's glory and all who have 
achieved it — for those who, more of patriots than critics, 
will excuse the imperfect delineation, while they contem- 
plate the features, and cheeringly hail the brilliant ca- 
reer, of virtue and valour, of learning and genius. 

It is needless to say that these sheets, from a rough 
soldier's rougher pen, advance no pretensions to the no- 

1* 



VI 

lice of criticism. It were idle to deprecate evils which 
can not come, " Who would rack a flj upon the wheel?" 

The reader, it is hoped, will deem me excusable in 
having sprinkled this memoir with brief notices of those 
actors in the scenes described, whom the narrative natu- 
rally and necessarily introduced. 

The delay which has taken place in the publication, 
occasioned by the pressure of my engagements, has not, 
of course, affected, in any degree, the verity of its state- 
ments. Truth is the same, at Athens and at Rome, now 
and forever; and the truths, especially, of History, like 
Pyramidal Structures, tower through all time, and solidi- 
fy by the accumulation of ages. They stand, mid the 
revolutions of human affairs, like fixed points in the hea- 
vens, toward which philosophers and statesmen point 
their instruments of observation, and gather Ccilculations 
for the expansion of science and for the conduct of na- 
tions. 

> It is not the design nor the wish of this memoir to 
elevate the glory of arms above that of letters. There 
are different species of fame, and different species even 
of military fame. True glory is in a compound ratio to 
the exertion of intellectual power, and to the direction 
which that power may take. Aside from its motives 
and objects, whatever evinces the greatest power of in- 
tellect is the most glorious ; whether an epic poem or the 
higher calculus. Whether, with Milton, to create and 
people immaterial worlds — or, with Shakspeare, to thread 
the mazes of all possible modes of being and of action, 
of feeling and of thought— whether, with Newton, to 
weigh the stars, to analyze the light, and pierce the ma- 
terial curtain which shuts us out from other spheres— or, 



vu 



with Berkeley, looking through nature, to remove from 
before the mental vision the barrier which divides time 
from eternity : these, one and all, are glorious, immortal 
conquests. They lift up human nature. They teach 
man, that, though bodily present in this world, he has 
capacities for higher scenes, superior enjoyments — the 
destined heir of a richer and eternal heritage. 

The victories of Ceesar are preserved imperishably in 
his own commentaries. The triumphal arch, the aspi- 
ring column, the memorial statue, have mouldered into dust, 
while his descriptions are fresh and verdant as when first 
from the hand of their author. As the second orator of 
Rome, he was undoubtedly more glorious, than when, at 
the head of his flushed legions, he passed the rubicon, 
and gave a master to the mistress of the vv^orld. The 
modern Csesar, too, has erected, on the Code Napoleon, 
the proudest pillar of his fame, more durable than the 
bronze or marble of the Tuilleries, and which will survive 
the names of Lodi, Austerlitz, and Marengo. These in- 
stances but serve to illustrate the position, that the ac- 
complished officer, the great general, those whom History 
inscribes on her scroll, and who were not born to die, 
must add, to the rich endowments of nature, the maturest 
cultivations of art. 

In the ages of barbarism, war was a royal pastime — 
the vagrant hunting game of Princes for spoil and do- 
minion. Scythia's desolating hordes, the ignorant move- 
ments of vast masses of physical force, of the wire-strung 
automata of armies, for the purposes of violence and de- 
vastation, of lust, rapine, and insatiate ambition, long 
drenched the earth with blood and tears, and rent the 
sky with cries of anguish. We behold Bajazet in the 



VUl 

cage of Timur, and consider prisoner and gaoler alike 
the object of disgust and horror, of scorn and execration. 
Goth and Hun, Alaric and Attila, sweep, with their 
besom, the land of Italy and Greece, of arts and of hu- 
manity ; Kouli and Gengis Khan pour like a torrent 
upon Candahar and Cathany ; Bethlem Gabor, with 
vulture talons, pounces upon Hungary ; — the only me- 
morials they leave are ruins — their only trophies are 
rights violated and innocence profaned, the confiscated 
palace and the desecrated temple, cities sacked and pro- 
vinces depopulated ; They are immortalized in infamy : 
Their march is the march of death — all the Furies in^their 
train. The nineteenth century, in the spirit of true phi- 
losophy, looks down, pity softening its contempt, upon 
these ignoble banditti, the royal robbers and princely 
murderers of mankind. 

Behold now, in contrast wide as zenith from the nadir, 
the Genius of Modern War — discarding all barbarities — 
retaining all refinements — cherishing aU the courtesies — • 
displaying lofty sentiment and gallant action, the Chival- 
ry of Heroism. Examine the character, the objects, the 
motives of the PATRIOT SOLDIER. No mercenary 
he ! No despot's minion ! Looking to his country, to pos- 
terity, to preserve his name, he plunges, like Curtius, a 
voluntary victim, into the gulf which Anarchy may 
have opened — he offers himself up, in defence against 
foreign aggression, a self-sacrifice on the altar of his 
country. Take a generous youth, of noble aspirations, 
his breast panting at the bright prospects which Hope 
and Imagination present to him in burnished array, his 
mind fraught with full knowledge of all the avenues 
which lead to the Temple of Fame. Which path will he 



IX 

pursue 7 What course select ? — How the blood thrills to 
the heart, when we contemplate Gustavus issuing from 
the mines of Dalecarlia to the rescue of his countrymen — 
when we barely pronounce the names of Bruce and Wal- 
lace — when we recall, the image of Pulaski — when we 
hear the child lisp the household word Lafayette — when 
we see, in the picture of the mind, Kosciusko unfurling 
the banners of Independence from the walls of Warsaw ! 
Look at the General, in the tented council, explaining to 
his confidential officers the plan of the campaign, on the 
issue of which the existence of his country, of liberty, 
and its institutions, is suspended ! Again see him in the 
field, quickly arranging the scientific combinations of 
battle, cheering the wavering, and leading the brave! 
Search the annals of States — go to the Pantheon of the 
Deified — find him who wears the greenest chtiplet, and 
holds the highest niche in the Temple : His name will 
be Washington, who lead the armies of his country to 
victory, and conquered for Freedom and the Republic ! 
The protection of hearths and altars, the repulsion of in- 
vasion, the overthrow of despotism, the establishment of 
independence, the salvation of a country, which are the 
proper feats of arms, have ever ranked, not only among 
the dearest duties of patriotism, but also among the sub- 
limest objects of man's ambition and glory. 

In modern times, war has not merely grown into an art 
— it is ennobled into a science : and, from its ultimate per- 
fection, perhaps, as well as from the prophecies both of 
religion and philosophy. Philanthropy may indulge the 
hope of that Saturnian perii)d, " when nations shall learn 
war no more." Till this period come, and indeed in or- 
der to hasten it, we must neglect no instruction — we must. 



use all appliances. We must cherish the science of war ; 
and, as war itself is not an abstraction, we must also 
cherish those who can practice it. 

Preparation for it is proverbially its best preventive ; 
and it is too tremendous in its trials to be wantonly in- 
curred by negligence: for war, like Minos, shakes the 
Urn which holds the fates of men and nations. Every 
country hitherto has been necessitated or seduced to launch 
into the tempestuous waters of martial combat ; but when 
embarked on that ocean, not sage nor seer can tell what 
Btorms may gather, in what clouds the beacon -lights be 
lost, what hidden currents heave us from our course, 
what time the arch again be spanned, or which bellige- 
rent be doomed to cry, in the language of Byron, " Renew 
thy rainbow, God !" 

GEORGE H. RICHARDS, 



MEMOIR, &c. 



Q^v 



In our national gallery of distinguished men, the 
portrait of Alexander Macomb stands conspicuous. 
The great men of this country, like the oaks of its 
forests, are of spontaneous growth. The hot-house of 
patronage, the adscititious aids of noble family and 
illustrious alliance, are not necessary to bring them to 
maturity. They invigorate and expand, as well amid 
the storms, as beneath the sunshine, of fortune. 

The subject of this Memoir will be found, like most 
of his eminent countrymen, to have risen by the salient 
and recuperative energies of his own genius. Although 
born of respectable parents, and receiving, not an ela- 
borate and finished, though highly valuable education, 
still he must be viewed as the architect of his own for- 
tunes, the arbiter of his own destiny. How many, even 
in our own country, have enjoyed greater advantages, 
had more powerful connexions, been educated at univer- 
sities, and perfected in their studies by foreign travel, who 



12 MEMOIR OF 

yet have performed no deed of fame, and rendered no 
service to society. The prominence of station, the wide 
spread and enduring celebrity, which Macomb has ac- 
quired, have been fairly earned in the open field of ho- 
nourable competition and emulous prowess. He sowed 
the harvest which he reaps. By his own right arm, 
he plucked the laurels, with which a nation garlands 
his brow, and which, in peace, like Harmodius, he 
weaves into a wreath where his sword reposes. Such 
a man seems always favoured by good fortune, because 
he wins it by address, or commands it by boldness. 

It is usual, in sketches like the present, to give some 
account of the origin and family of the individual whose 
life and character are portrayed. Although, in this free 
and happy republic, no long line of patrician ancestry 
is deemed a qualification for office, nor a passport to 
power ; yet it is a theme, at once, of ingenious specu- 
lation and liberal curiosity, to trace, through the deriva- 
tion from different nations, the various soiu'ces of the 
blood which runs in the veins of our countrymen, and, 
in every instance of a distinguished person, to learn 
something of his parentage and descent. 

Alexander Macomb, the Major General commanding 
the Army of the United Slates, is descended, on the 
paternal side, from a respectable Irish family, and, on 
the maternal, from an ancient French family of noble 



MACOMB. 



13 



extraction. The grandfather, John Macomb, emi- 
grated to this country, from Ireland, as early as the year 
1742, and held an official station under the Colonial 
government. He selected, for his place of residence, 
the city of New- York. Here, too, his son Alexander 
Macomb, the father of the General, was educated and 
resided. He sustained the character of an useful and 
highly public-spirited citizen ; had the honour of repre- 
senting that city in the Legislature of the State in the 
years 1787-88; and, in the late war with Great Britain, 
furnished five sons for the service of his country in the 
regular Army and the Militia. 

The grandfather, on the mother's side, was Robert 
de Navarre. He came from Paris to America, in the 
year 1745, an officer under the French government, 
and acted as Notaire Royal and Sub-Deligue of the 
king of France, on the early establishment of Detroit, 
where he remained and raised a large family, the de- 
scendants of which are spread through the greater por- 
tion of the French population of Michigan, and its im- 
mediate vicinity on the Canadian side. 

The father of our Macomb, in the adventurous spirit 
of the times before the revolution, established a mercan- 
tile house at Detroit, where he succeeded in amassing a, 
considerable estate, by means of those valuable furs and 
peltries, then and since the rich staples of an extensive 

2 



14 MEMOIR OF 

commerce in the remote and unsettled parts of the 
northwestern portion of America, bordering on the Ohio 
and the Lakes. He married, at Detroit, Miss Catha- 
rine Navarre. He had a numerous and growing family ; 
and, on the restoration of peace, with the acquisition of 
a handsome fortune, he returned to New- York. He 
made extensive purchases of land in the western part 
of the State, then a wilderness, now called " Macomb's 
Purchase," and enjoyed the advantages of his industry 
and enterprise, until misplaced confidence and the vi- 
cissitudes of trade snatched from him, as it were in a 
moment, the accumulations of years, and reduced him 
to comparative indigence and distress. 

The subject of this memoir was born at Detroit, on the 
3d of April, 1782. Though not, hke one of the heroes 
of antiquity, born on tapestry representing the scenes of 
the Iliad, he may yet almost literally be said to have 
been nursed in field and fortress, and rocked by the 
storms of war. Detroit, at this time, was a military post. 
The chubby boy became a favourite with the soldiers 
of the garrison. He was dandled on the soldier's knee, 
— fed at the soldier's mess — his eye was dazzled with 
the gorgeous pageantry of military parade— and his ear 
delighted with the rousing strains of martial music. 
He slept and awoke amid martial sounds and associa- 
tions. External objects so readily and deeply stamp 



MACOMB. 15 

their impression on the mind just opening to the world, 
it is not a matter of surprise that the dreams of iiis in- 
fancy and the visions of his youth were of military 
glory. 

He was yet an infant, when his father took up his 
residence in the city of New- York. It was in that 
city, he spent the early years of childhood. But when 
only eight years of age, he was sent to the Academy 
at Newark, in New- Jersey, and was placed under 
the charge of the Rev. Doctor Uzual Ogden, who was 
president of the institution, pastor of the Episcopal 
church in that town, and bishop elect of the Diocese 
of New- Jersey. He there received the rudiments of 
a classical, mathematical, and French education. The 
eruption of the French revolution, at this period, 
ihrew many of the unfortunate families of France and 
the West Indies into our country, as an asylum where 
the exiles of foreign oppression sought and found 
a second home. A great many of the young gentlemen 
of those families were sent to the Academy at Newark ; 
and a number of the families themselves took up their 
residence in the vicinity. This circumstance afforded 
a fine opportunity to the American youths, by cultivating 
intercourse with the French, to acquire a practical know- 
ledge of their language. The occasion was not ne- 
glected by young Macomb, who, both at school and in con- 
versation, became faraiUarized with that polite and use- 



16 MEMOIR OF 

fill tongue : an acquisition which has proved itself of im- 
mense benefit to him, in his intercourse with the world, 
and especially in the prosecution of his military profes- 
sion. 

It is hardly less philosophical than amusing, to trace 
the developmenis of greatness to their germ ; to 
mark even the earliest indications of character ; and 
notice those little incidents which often, perhaps, have 
a controlling, though unsuspected, agency in forming 
the plastic mind of youth, that, subsequently, in the 
maturity of its strength and in the vigour of manhood, 
may guide the course, or mould the destinies, of em- 
pire. With this view, the reader will pardon a brief 
recital of a passage or two, in the juvenile years of 
Macomb. 

The war of the French revolution raging at tire 
period he was at school in Newark, although a mere 
lad, he could not but be influenced, more or less, like 
" young Norval who had heard of battles," by the de- 
scriptions of the martial array, of defeats and victories 
alternately lost and won by the aristocrats and demo- 
crats of France. These were, at that time, the con- 
stant topic of conversation and newspaper discussion. 
At tlie commencement of that revolution, it is well 
known with what fervid enthusiasm the feelings of 
our countrymen, even to the children, entered into the 
contest, then deemed the holy cause of freedom, (as 



MACOMB. 17 

indeed it was in its incipiency,) against oppression and 
despotism ! Every success which the French repub- 
licans gained was lauded throughout the countr^^ — the 
public prints related it with exultation — and the Ame- 
rican people hailed it with rapturous joy, identifying 
the cause of France with that of uniyersal liberty. 
The "Marceliois hymn" and other patriotic songs of 
that revolution were " conn'd by heart" by our youths, 
and recited and sung with an ardour bordering on 
phrenzy. The French cockade was universally worn ; 
indeed it was dangerous to appear without that emblem 
of •' civism" and democracy ; even the cravats were 
tamboured with the motto of " La liberte et L'Egalit^," 
and the appropriate tricolour of the day. 

During this period too, strong excitement prevailed 
against the British Government, on account of its with- 
holding the posts within our acknowledged limits, on 
the Canadian frontiers, and its impressment of our 
citizens on the high seas. The approach of war with 
Great Britain was now considered to be so near, that 
the citizens commenced the fortification of Governor's 
Island, and other positions in the vicinity, for the pro^ 
tection of the city of New- York ; and the very boys 
at school joined in the welcome task of throwing up 
the projected works. Small as he then was, our young 
enthusiast partook of the fatigue, and was distinguished 

2* 



18 MEMOIR OF 

for his assiduity ia lending his Uttle labors to the work 
of defence. 

The students at the Academy in Newark had 
become quite numerous ; and some of them having 
given umbrage to a young son of Crispin, the faculty^ 
feeling their " esprit du corps" touched, roused them- 
selves to the field, with their allies, and appeared en 
masse before the students. The challenge could not 
be declined ; and a combat ensued, in which, after a 
severe struggle with fists, sticks, " arma furor minin- 
strat" — the Crispians retreated. In this affair, by that 
sort of instinctive impulse and consent, which, in as- 
semblies, whether of boys or men, assumes and yields 
the ascendant, young Macomb took and vigorously 
exercised the command. In a subsequent affray be- 
tween the same parties, a similar illustration was 
afforded. It was agreed that each party should select 
its champion, and decide the contest according to the 
laws of pugilism, then a fashionable accomplishment. 
Young Macomb, about thirteen years of age, entered 
the ring on the side of the students. The brawny 
arms of his antagonist played with athletic strength 
about his person, and would inevitably have gained 
the day, had not fortunately our little champion been 
schooled in the pugilistic art by a brother-in-law, who 
had himself been regularly initiated by Mendoza, in 



MACOMB. 19 

England. The ensuing winter furnished new occasions 
for these miniature mihtary operations. The students 
agreed to erect a fort of snow, and to divide themselves 
into two parties, one of which to garrison the fort, and 
the other to attack it. The Latin and Greek Teacher 
at the Academy was a Scotchman of the name of Ir- 
quart, who possessed deep-rooted prejudices against the 
French, and, finding that they were not so enthusias- 
tically admired as formerly by the Americans, sought 
to create animosities among the students, who were 
pretty equally divided in point of number. The fort 
being completed, these little communities, as represen- 
tatives of their respective nations, determined to toss 
up for the possession of the fort, and each choose a 
commander. The French won ; and a day was fixed 
on, for the siege and attack. The French boys secretly 
repaired to the fort the previous night, with frozen 
snow-balls, and arranged them in their magazines, and 
along the parapets. At dawn of the appointed day, the 
parties were at their respective stations, Macomb head- 
ing the Americans. The besieging party, before com- 
mencing the attack, threw up, under the fire of the fort, 
a sort of epaulment, to cover themselves from the balls 
of the besieged. The Scotch schoolmaster happened 
that day to get into the Academy at an earlier hour 
than usual, and watched, with intense eagerness, the 



20 MEMOIR OP 

operations of the l)el]igeients, which were going on at 
no great distance from his position. The assailants 
having prepared a sufficient quantity of munitions for 
the bombardment, the fire was opened on the fort. aiKi 
returned with great spirit and effect, several of the be- 
sieging party having been struck with the ice-balls, 
and brought to the ground. The Americans conceived 
the use of this missile to be contrary to the laws of 
war ; and their leader instantly proposed to assault the 
foit, and carry it by storm. This proposal was hailed 
with three cheers, and almost as immediately executed. 
Under a tremendous and well-directed fire of the ice- 
balls, the works were stormed, the magazines seized. 
and the arms turned against the French. The Scotch- 
man now caused the bell to be rung for school ; and, 
after severely upbraiding the besieged party for their 
treachery, he applied his leathern throng to their leader, 
calling him the domned French mon^ until our hero, 
by his intercession, procured his release, and let him go 
on parole. 

In the year 1795, Macomb's eldest sister was mar- 
ried to the Honorable Robert Kennedy, a younger son 
of the late Earl of Casselis, and brother of the present 
Marquess of Ails, who, possessing a handsome property 
near Newark, took up his residence at a neighboring 
seat, called Petersboro, on the Passaic, and invited to his 



MACOMB. 21 

house, his new brother-in-law, for whora he felt a strono- 
partiality; in order that his manners and education 
might be more carefully attended to. while at the same 
time he might continue bis studies at the Newark Acade- 
my. Mr. Kennedy bad just become of age : and; in pos- 
session of an ample fortune, entertained all the agreea- 
ble and enlightened society in his neighbourhood. He fre- 
quently, also, had distinguished individuals of our own 
country and from abroad, to pass the more plecisant 
seasons at his 'hospitable mansion. Besides; he was 
fond of hunting, shooting, and fishing, and all the 
sports of the field — exercises well calculated to fit one 
for the active duties of a soldier, and of which young 
Macomb was permitted to partake, when they would 
not interfere with his studies. 

The iatelligent and refined society which frequented 
PetersborOj^ as well as that of Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy 
themselves, who were both highly accoraphshed. pre- 
senting in their own deportment good examples of po- 
lite life, afforded to young Macomb an early opportunity 
of forming his manners on the best models : and it is 
but justice to those who then constituted the society of 
that place and its vicinity, to say that they possessed, 
in an eminent degree, all those acquirements and agre- 
mens which, while tbey softea the manners, tend to 
raehorate the heart and polish the mind, and conse- 



22 MEMOIR OF 

quently to give a zest to friendly intercoursCj and guard 
the purity of social enjoyment. 

Having now attained the age of fourteen, and mani- 
festing a decided predilection for a military life, he inti- 
mated to his father a desire to enter either the Army 
or Navy, for some of his young associates had just 
been appointed Midshipmen. His father, justly regard- 
ing a good education paramount to every other con- 
sideration, replied, that when he had completed his 
studies and evinced competent ability, he might think 
of a profession ; but that, if he were to launch into the 
world with a mind uninformed and undisciplined, his 
course of instruction unfinished, it would be idle to ex- 
pect the attainment of eminence in any pursuit. 

Our difficulties with France continued to increase, 
and volunteer corps in defence of the country be- 
gan, in the spirit of the day, to be raised and organ- 
ized. Notwithstanding the youth and careful tutor- 
age of Macomb, his propensity for a military hfe ex- 
hibited itself so strongly, that his father thought it a 
duty to take him home, in order to confine his attention 
more exclusively to his books. His father now caused 
him to be particularly instructed in mathematics and 
drawing, and engaged masters to perfect him in the arts 
of fencing and riding. By being trained to athletic and 
gymnastic exercises in his youth, the foundation was 



MACOMB. 23 

laid for a hale, robust constitution, which he has ever 
since uniformly enjoyed. 

On the 2Sth of May, 1798, Macomb was proposed 
.and elected a member of the volunteer company, called 
the '' New- York Rangers," under Lieut. Commandant 
Edward Laight, in the 3d Regiment of New- York 
Militia, of which Jacob Morton, now Senior Major Ge- 
neral of the Militia of the State, was Colonel. This 
company was exclusively composed of the young gen- 
tlemen of the city ; and a single black ball denied ad- 
mission. Our Government was then engaged in making 
preparations to meet any exigencies which might grow 
out of the difficulties unhappily existing between the 
United States and the French Republic. It was at 
this time, that our Commissioners in France, on a de- 
mand by the Government of that country for money, 
recommended to Congress the high-souled resolve, 
^^ Millions for defence — not a cent fo?' tribute." On 
the day that Macomb became a volunteer in defence of 
his injured country, an act was passed by Congress, au- 
thorizing the President to accept volunteers. The com- 
pany to which he belonged, fired with a patriotic spirit, 
unanimously offered their services to the President, and 
were accepted accordingly. An act w^as soon afterwards 
passed, to augment the Army by twelve new Regi- 
ments of Infantry and six Troops of Light Diagoons. 



24 MEMOIR OF 

These troops, together with the two troops of Dra- 
goons already in service, were to be formed into a Regi- 
ment. The opportunity thus presented itself for those 
who desired it, to enter the Army ; and young Macomb, 
without the knowledge of his family, availed himself of 
the opening, by tendering his services to the Secretary 
of War. 

He requested an appointment in any Regiment or 
Corps about to be raised, but asked, in the event of his 
success, if admissible, <o be placed in some Regiment 
to be raised in his own State. His letter of applica- 
tion he handed, open, to the Colonel of his Regiment, 
Jacob Morton, with a request that he would be pleased 
to add whatever he thought proper, and forward it to 
the Hon. John Lawrence, the then Senator from the 
State of New- York, to be laid before the Secretary^f 
War. Colonel Morton had served in the regular Army 
during the Revolution, and possessed a real mihtary 
tact and spirit. He gave great encouragement to the 
volunteers who composed his elegant Regiment. This 
Regiment attracted a marked notice by its high state 
of discipline and soldierly appearance : no regular sol- 
diers could have been more carefully drilled. It was 
composed of the elite of the city ; and a number of 
its members were appointed in the Army and Navy. 

The preparations for war with France were now 



MACOMB. 25 

urged with more and more activity. General Washington 
was invited to the chief command of the forces. The other 
General officers were also named. They assembled at 
the seat of Government to make preliminary arrange- 
ments for the defence of the country, to organize the 
army, and select, from the numerous applicants, the 
officers to be appointed from tlie several States. Gene- 
ral Hamilton, who was personally acquainted with 
young Macomb, and had discovered the early presages 
of his future eminence, with his usual insight into cha- 
racter, recommended him to the President for the ap- 
pointment of Cornet, with the remark that he was 
" young, active, and ambitious." His name was ac- 
cordingly submitted to the Senate, on the 31st of De- 
cember, 1798. He was confirmed as a Cornet of Light 
Dragoons, and commissioned to take rank on the lOtli 
of January, 1799, whence he dates his military service 
in the Army of the United States* 

The Army at this time, as actually raised, consisted 
of four Regiments of Infantry, and two troops of Dra- 
goons, destined for the protection of our inland frontiers, 
and stationed in the Indian country ; and of two Regi- 
ments of Artillerists and Engineers, forming the garri- 
sons of our maritime frontier and the principal forts on 
the Lakes. 

Although General Washington was appointed Com- 

3 



26 MEMOIR OP 

mander in Chief, the active command of the whole 
Army was devolved by him on Major General Alexan- 
der Hamilton, who was next in rank to Washington. 
The whole force, notwithstanding, was divided into 
separate commands under the several Generals. The 
troops north of the Potomac were the designated com- 
mand of General Hamilton ; those south of that river, 
of Major General Charles Cotsworth Pinckney ; and 
those west of the mountains, being the old troops, of 
Brig. General James Wilkinson. Brig. General Wil- 
liam North was appointed Adjutant General, and sta- 
tioned in New- York, near the Head Q,uarters of Gene- 
ral Hamilton. In the organization of the Staff, young 
Macomb, although now scarce seventeen years of age, 
was appointed an Assistant Adjutant General, and at- 
tached to General North. - 
By this fortunate circumstance, was probably laid the 
foundation of that famihar and accurate knowledge of 
the principles and practice of his profession, of the du- 
ties both of officers and soldiers, in their minutest details 
as well as in their most comprehensive scope, which 
has ever distinguished his subsequent career in arms. 
Beside the advantage of habitual, frequent intercourse 
with that exalted character General Hamilton, General 
North, Macomb's immediate master, was reputed one of 
the most scientific and practical officers of the revolu- 



MACOMB. 27 

tionary Army. He had been the Aide de Camp of that 
excellent soldier Baron Steuben, and rendered him valu- 
able assistance in the introduction and establishment 
of a regular system of police, tactics, discipline, and ac- 
countability. He was continued in the Army after the 
Revolution, for the purpose of organizing the small 
force retained for the protection of our infant settlements 
and exposed frontiers against the inroads of the savages. 
In addition to the duties which appertained to the 
Adjt. General's office, so well calculated to familarize 
the mind with all the varied operations of an Arm 3^, 
affording the best school which a camp can offer to all 
attached to that department, General North, who was 
also, ex officio. Assistant Inspr. General, was required 
to discharge other important functions ; being engaged, 
in this latter capacity, with General Hamilton, the In- 
spector General, in forming and examining the several 
corps, as also in compiling and adapting systems of 
regulation for each arm of service. Discussions were 
frequent between the Adjutant General and the Inspect- 
or General; and many principles were settled growin 
out of command, courts martial, and other points v 
duty, in the course of service, which were referred to thi- 
Head Gluarters of the Army. These gentlemen, school 
ed in the Army of the Revolution, formed their op^r 
nions on the coolest judgment and the strictest military 



28 MEMOIR OP 

principles. Justice to the officers of that Arrny, gene- 
raii}^ warrants the acknowledgment, that they not 
only learned the theory of war, but reduced it to prac- 
tice, according to the then most approved rules of the art, 
and in a manner worthy the imitation of all their suc- 
cessors. The Order Books of General Washington and 
the militar}^ correspondence of the times will be found, 
on recurrence to them, pregnant with lessons of wisdom 
and experience. Subordination, a nice adjustment of du- 
ties, a rigid execution of those duties, a spirit of chivalry and 
patriotism, untaught by other records, breathe through 
the whole of them. An eulogy similar to that on the old 
Congress, which, flowing from the eloquent lips of Chat- 
ham, immortalized both the speaker and his subject, 
might well be pronounced on the achievements without 
means, on the sufferings without parallel, on the uii- 
sleeping eye and unwearied arm, the enduring constan- 
cy, the self-sacrificing devotedness, the Grecian genius, 
and more than Roman hardihood, of the Army of 
\the Revolution. 

f In order to their instruction, the troops were briga- 
ct';d and cantoned in different parts of the country, re- 
fei-ence being had to their advantageous position for 
tbji defence of the country in case of invasion. Gene- 
r Y-s Hamilton and North personally superintended their 

•l^truction, which further enabled Macomb, who al- 



MACOMB. 



29 



ways accompanied them, to improve himself in his pro- 
fession. France having at length yielded to a satis- 
factory arrangement, the Army was reduced to the 
number of Regiments which formed the estabhshment 
prior to 1799. Macomb availed himself of the permission 
of General Hamilton to go into Canada, and see the 
British troops stationed at Montreal and in its vicinity, 
in order to make himself acquainted with the mode of 
discipline practised by the British Army. 

He was kindly received by the British Commanding 
General Napier Christie Burton, and the other officers of 
that station. Every facility was granted him for visit- 
ing the troops in quarters and when under arms at 
the frequent reviews of manoeuvre and inspection. He 
was, besides, much favoured through the influence of 
Sir John Johnson, the uncle of his brother-in-law, Mr. 
Kenned}^, whose invitation to reside at his mansion he 
accepted during the period of his visit at that city* 

On his return to the United States, he found himself 
retained in the military establishment as a second Lieu- 
tenant in one of the old Troops of Dragoons, which 
composed part of his former Regiment. This com- 
mission he received the 10th of February, 1801, from 
the hand of President Jefferson. He was now ordered, 
on the recruiting service, to Philadelphia. This city 
offered many advantages to a young man of the age of 

3* 



30 MEMOIR OF 

Macombj then about nineteen years old. Accomplish- 
ed society, choice and extensive libraries, and public 
institutions of almost every kind, were well calculated 
to engage the attention; and improve the leisure, of 
those who would frequent them. Instead of yielding 
to the w^onted dissipation or idle amusements of youth, 
he devoted himself to sober employments, or indulged 
in those refined pleasures of literary and social com- 
munion which the city of " brotherly love" presented. 
He was particularly fortunate in meeting here an able 
French officer of Engineers ; who, escaping the pro- 
scriptions of his own country, sought our shores, but, 
like most of his exiled countrymen, brought no re- 
sources beyond his education, talent, and address. 
Taken with the open air and vivacious spirit of Ma- 
comb, he was dehghted to find in him a companion 
who spoke his own language ; and proposed to pass 
him through a course of instruction in the science of 
fortification and military topography. The proposition 
was quickly accepted, as it tended to open to him a 
further progress in important branches of his profession, 
and to keep alive his knowledge of the French Lan- 
guage. He now also commenced a friendship, which 
each subsequent year served only to confirm, with 
Jonathan Williams, Esq., a gentleman of learning and 
science, who had just been appointed Major of one of 



MACOMB. 31 

the Battalions of the 2cl Regiment of Artillerists and 
Engineers, and Inspector of Fortifications, and who, 
afterwards, was placed at the head of the Corps of En- 
gineers. 

Having raised a handsome body of recruits, Macomb 
marched them to join the Army under Gen. Wilkinson 
at Pittsburg. Although, as a Dragoon Officer, entitled 
to be mounted, yet having a number of Subaltern offi- 
cers of Infantry under his command, he declined any 
exclusive personal indulgence, and proceeded with the 
party on foot a distance, by the ancient route, of three 
hundred and twenty miles. An humorous occurrence, 
not devoid of interest in a military point of view, hap- 
pened to the detachment on the way, which is still 
well remembered by the inhabitants near Turtle Creek. 
An officer of superior rank, heading a small body of 
recruits, overtook Macomb's, at Chambersburg, and, 
uniting forces, assumed the command of the whole. 
The party, now consisting of about 150 men, with the 
usual complement of women, halted in the morning 
on an island near the crossing place at Turtle Creek. 
This was in the month of May, when heavy showers 
are frequent in the mountains bordering the Creek. 
Macomb, being officer of the day, and learning the in- 
tention of the Commanding Officer to encamp on the 
island, remonstrated against the measure, alleging that 



32 MEMOIR OF 



the island, lying under the mountains, was obviously- 
liable to be inundated, pointing out at the same time 
the drift wood on the head of the island, as an evident 
indication of that fact. The Commanding Officer, 
disdaining the representations of his junior, authorita- 
tively ordered the tents to be pitched. The camp was 
soon formed — the men became busy in brushing up 
their arms and accoutrements — and the women in 
washing their clothes. At tattoo, they retired to rest. 
But the day had scarcely closed, when appalling thun- 
der indicated too clearly a coming flood. Pouring 
down the sides of the mountains, the rain soon swelled 
the water of the Creek, which at noon was nearly dry, 
to a level with the island. Through the pitchy dark- 
ness of the night, the lightnings revealed the approach- 
ing danger. The torrents continued to pour, and the 
floods to rise. The drums beat to arms — the tents 
were struck — the wagons were made fast to any fix- 
ture — the women scrambled into the wagons, and the 
men up the trees — and the horses were swum by their 
drivers across the Creek. In this plight, so ludicrous 
if it had not been dangerous, in which they remained 
through the night, daylight both exposed and relieved 
them. The inhabitants came to their rescue on floats^ 
from which, on returning, many were swept by the 
force of the stream, and floated about like the fragments 



MACOMB. ' 33 

of a wreck. On main land once more, from the disa- 
gremen of accompanying a drenched and all but 
drowned party, which a little while before had worn a 
most soldier-like appearance, and which Macomb had 
spared neither pains nor expense in equipping and or- 
namenting, he was extricated by his Commanding 
Officer, who, having now dearly bought an useful les- 
son in the art of castrametation^ and learned to appre- 
ciate Macomb's advice, despatched him to Gen. Wil- 
kinson for fresh suppUes of provisions and clothing. 

The detachment having at length arrived at the 
Head Gluarters of General Wilkinson, was marched 
into a camp, which had been formed for the instruction 
of recruits, destined to fill the several Regiments sta- 
tioned on the Lakes and other western waters. In 
this camp, through a precaution of the utmost import- 
ance to an army, all recruits were inoculated to guard 
them against the small-pox, previously to joining their 
respective Regiments. While at Pittsburg, Macomb 
met his friend Major Williams, who, as Inspector of 
Fortifications, had been making an examination of the 
Niagara frontier, and who was then engaged in project- 
ing a work to be erected on Black Rock, opposite Fort 
Erie. The Major, in the press of business, required an 
assistant, and knowing Macomb to have paid attention 
to the study of fortification, obtained an order from the 



34 MEMOIR OF 

Commanding General for his aid in preparing the draw- 
ings, calculations, estimates and memoirs, necessary to 
illustrate the plans of the proposed work. As he had 
now been some time with the troops under General 
Wilkinson, the latter mentioned to him that he had 
received letters from Generals Hamilton and North, re- 
commending him to his care and protection. Although 
Wilkinson had not thus far evinced any special regard 
for him, yet he had not been unobservant of his con- 
duct in camp, and expressed himself pleased with his 
attention to his duties. The General then directed 
that the detachments in the camp of instruction should 
join their Regiments, and invited Lieut. Macomb to 
become a member of his military family in the quality 
of an extra Aide de Camp. 

Shortly after Macomb had entered the encampment 
beyond the Alleghany, an incident occurred which 
came near doing him a serious injury. An officer 
visited him in his tent, and in the course of conversa- 
tion, broached the politics of the day, the principal 
theme of which was the change of administration, Mr. 
Jefferson having been not long before elected to the 
Presidency. This officer was very abusive of the new 
President, in terms not merely indecorous, but punish- 
able by the Articles of War. Disapproving of such in-, 
temperance, Macomb begged him not to continue a 



MACOMB. 35 

language, so disrespectful to the head of the Army and 
the Nation, and which, used any where but in his own 
tent, he would feel constrained to notice, as a breach of 
discipline. The expressions were overheard, attributed 
to Macomb, and reported to Head Quarters, for which 
he received a severe reprimand. He, however, soon 
succeeded in satisfying the General of his innocence of 
the charge, though without exposing the officer guilty 
of the indecorum. 

The camp being broken up, he repaired to Head 
duarters, to take upon him the duties of Aide de Camp. 
General Wilkinson had, for some time, been collecting 
troops at the mouth of the Ohio, at a place called 
Wilkinsonville, with a view to form a camp of instruc- 
sion, on a scale sufficiently extensive to enable him to 
practice the evolutions of the Line, and give the officers 
a more practical knowledge of their duties. The 2d 
Regiment of Infantry under Col. Strong, and the 4th 
Regiment under Col. Thomas Butler, together with a 
Battalion of Artillery, formed the assembled force. The 
recruits destined to fill these corps were embarked at 
Pittsburg, and acted as the crews to navigate the boats 
down the river. The position selected for the encamp- 
ment proved unhealthy, especially to the Artillery Bat- 
talion, and the 2d Regiment composed principally of 
recruits. But the 4th Regiment, filled with a hardy 



gg MEMOIR O^ 

eet of old soldiers, long accustomed both to the camp 
and the climate, suffered less. Their superior hea^A 
i«ay also, probably, be attributed to their use of the 
river water, there being no springs in the vicinity, while 
the other troops, at some distance from the 4th Regi- 
ment, derived their supply of water from sprmgs, pro- 
bably rendered deleterious by some mineral impregna- 
tion From this circumstance, it would seem expedient, 
in stationary encampments, to subject the water for the 
use of the soldiery, if previously untried, to a chym.cal 
analysis. The prevailing sickness determined the Ge- 
neral to remove the troops further up the Ohio, to a 
place near the mouth of the Cumberland, called Smith- 

' General Wilkinson, General Pickens, and Colonel 
Hawkins, were now appointed Commissioners.!^ troat 
with the Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, and Creeks, 
Tribes of Indians, then inhabiting what was called the 
South Western Territory, a considerable tract of coun- 
try lying between the States of Georgia, South Caroli- 
na and Tennessee, the Mississippi River, and the Flo- 
ridas This Commission was appointed to assemble at 
South West Point, at the junction of the Clinch and 
Tennessee Rivers, in the month of August, 1801. Ge- 
neral Wilkinson, taking with him Lieut. Macomb, who 
was appointed Secretary to this commission, left Wil- 



MACOMB. 37 

kinsonville, descended the Ohio to the mouth of the 
Cumberland J thence to Eddyville, where he was met 
by Mr. Matthew Lyon, a member of Congress, who 
obhgingly showed the General the way into the Bar- 
rens, which lie between that place and Nashville ; and 
thence proceeded to South West Point. 

The Commissioners failed to acquire new cessions of 
land from the Cherokees, they having imbibed ideas 
of individual property, and being advanced, far beyond 
the other Tribes, in the arts of civilization. The Com- 
mission, therefore, on the 11th of September returned, 
descending the Tennessee ; and having their arks pre- 
pared at Wilkinsonville, continued to the Chickasaw 
Bluff, where a satisfactory treaty was soon negociated 
with the Chickasaws. Thence proceeding down the 
Mississippi to Fort Adams, about thirty miles below 
Natchez, a position taken by the United States to assert 
their claim to the line of limits between the Floridas and 
the 31st degree of North Latitude, the Commission, 
after an inspection and review of the Troops, opened a 
negociation with the Choctaws, who finally entered 
into the arrangements sought by the Government. 
Winter approaching, it being now the beginning of De- 
cember, the boats were abandoned, and the country 
traversed from this point to Fort Wilkinson on the 
Oconee in Georgia, near which Fort measures were to 

4 



38 . MEMOIR OF 

be adopted for the settlement of some disputes, and to 
obtain all the country, as far as the Ocmulgee. Ma- 
comb still accompanied the Commissioners, who set out 
on horseback, with a small guard of Light Dragoons, 
for Tuckabatche, the residence of the United States 
Agent, Col. Hawkins. Here he spent the winter, in 
the very heart of the Creek Nation, Wilkinson and 
Pickens having returned. The Creeks assembled in 
June, 1802, and the treaty was concluded the ensuing 
month. This treaty was held on the identical spot, on 
which Milledgeville is built, the present Capital of the 
State of Georgia. It was now upwards of 300 days 
that Macomb had been engaged in the Mission, all of 
which time he spent, in the woods, among the Abori- 
gines. During this tour Macomb kept a minute jour- 
nal, in which he noted the courses and distances of 
streams and positions, the productions of the soil, the 
geological and geographical physiognomy of the country. 
He also delineated with great care the Tennessee and 
Mississippi rivers, and constructed a topographical map, 
which was deposited in the War office and received the 
marked approval of Mr. Jefferson. 

The object for which the Commission was instituted 
having been accomplished, as far as practicable, Ma- 
comb was despatched with the treaties and accounts 
to Washington, by the way of Charleston. He spent 



MACOMB. 39 

a few days at this latter city, ia the enjoyment of that 
elegant hospitality for which it is so justly celebrated, and 
thence proceeded to the seat of Government. While 
he was engaged on the Commission, our little army had 
been reduced. The four Regiments of Infantry were 
formed into two Regiments, and the two Regiments of 
Artillery and Engineers into one Regiment of Artillery. 
The Dragoons were disbanded, and a Corps of Engi- 
neers was authorized to be raised, to consist of one Ma- 
jor, two Captains, two 1st and two 2d Lieutenants, and 
ten Cadets, which Corps was to constitute, when or- 
ganized, the MiUtary Academy ; the President being 
empowered to augment the Corps and make promo- 
tions in it, with a view to particular merit, and without 
regard to rank. Lieutenant Macomb found himself 
among the number of officers retained, and arranged 
to the 1st Regiment of Infantry. Feehng rather re- 
duced than advanced, in his relative rank, he remon- 
ttti-ated with the Secretary of War. The Secretary 
rephed that his general talents and merits as an officer, 
especially as a Draftsman and Engineer, had not been 
overlooked— that Major Williams had made a highly 
favourable report of him — and that, in consequence, a 
place in the Corps of Engineers, as 1st Lieutenant, had 
been reserved for him, should it be agreeable to him to 
accept it. Such a flattering mark of attention from the 



40 MEMOIR OP 

Head of the Department must have been highly grati- 
fying to Macomb, who had always aimed to make him- 
self a proficient in that branch of service, to which he 
was to be transferred ; and he accordingly accepted the 
commission, bearing date the 12th of October, 1802. 

He now received orders to repair to West Point, and 
report himself to Lieutenant Colonel Williams, Super- 
intendent of the Military Academy. That institution 
was just then going into operation. The Field Officers 
and Captains of the Corps of Engineers acted as Pro- 
fessors, with the addition of two Teachers, one of the 
French Language and one of Drawing. The Lieu- 
tenants and Cadets were considered as students, and 
were obliged to go through the established course, pre- 
paratory to being employed on the fortifications. At 
the proper time, Lieutenant Macomb was examined, 
and declared to have attained the requisite qualifications, 
of which due report was made by the Superintendent 
to the War Department. He may, therefore, be con- 
sidered the eldest graduate, now in the service, of that 
institution. He was then appointed to do the duty of 
Adjutant, and to instruct the Cadets in their military 
exercises. He was the officer who first organized them 
into a Corps, and put arms in their hands. 

In the ensuing year, July 23d, 1803, he married his 
cousin, Miss Catharine Macomb, of Belville, in New- 



MACOMB. 41 

Jersey, a beautiful and highly accomplished young 
lady of sixteen. In the autumn of that year, he was 
ordered to attend a General Court Martial, convened at 
Fredericktown, in Maryland, for the trial of Colonel 
Thomas Butler. The Colonel, it seems, had refused 
to obey an order of General Wilkinson, requiring the 
hair of the officers and soldiers to be cropped. The 
old fashion queue, worn in the revolution, was still seen 
appended to the venerable heads of those gallant men, 
who yet remained in the service of their country. This 
instance of disobedience in the brave veteran, although 
undoubtedly a breach of rigid discipline, could not im- 
peach his character, nor impair his standing. While 
his defence was reading and appeals were made to his 
past services, every eye melted in sympathy and sor- 
row, or kindled with indignation at what some con- 
ceived an arbitrary exertion of authority. The Court, 
however, sustained the validity of the regulation, and 
sentenced the Colonel to be reprimanded in general or- 
ders. Macomb had been appointed Judge Advocate to 
this Court, which continued its session for the trial of 
several other officers. During the trials, Macomb ac- 
quitted himself so well, and exhibited so correct a know- 
ledge, both of military law and the mode of proceed- 
ings, that the members of the Court suggested to him 
the advantage which would accrue to the service, if he 

4* 



42 MEMOIR OF 

should compose a Treatise as a general guide for the 
conduct of Courts Martial : a work which he subse- 
quently executed. 

As a great proportion of the Field Officers of the 
Army, representatives from every Regiment and Corps, 
attended the General Court Martial, Lieut. Macomb, 
young as he was, submitted to them the expediency of 
forming all the officers of the Army into a society for the 
purpose of affording protection to the superannuated 
veteran, and to the widows and orphans of such officers 
as might die in the service. In order to effect this 
highly laudable object, he proposed that each officer 
should subscribe a certain per-centage on his pay, and 
that Congress be memorialized to grant a charter, to- 
gether with any endowment it might be pleased to 
appropriate. The project was laid before the Secretary 
of War, who gave it his sanction ; but, before any step 
could be taken toward its accomplishment, the officers 
had returned to their respective stations. It is to be 
hoped, however, that so benevolent a plan of perma- 
nent utility may yet be realized. 

Macomb returned to West Point, where he conti- 
nued his studies and military exercises, except when 
called off, to act as Judge Advocate or member of Ge- 
neral Courts Martial, until some time in May, 1805, 
when he repaired to Washington to make a final set- 



MACOMB. 43 

tlement of his accountSj as late Secretary to the Com- 
missioners, which had not been closed, although ren- 
dered at the proper time. He availed himsef of this 
opportunity to present a very strong letter, recommend- 
ing him for promotion, from his Colonel the Superin- 
tendent of the Military Academy, together with a letter 
from the Commissioners, expressing their entire satis- 
faction with his services, and commending him warm- 
ly to the patronage of the Government. General Dear- 
born, the then Secretary of War, approved his accounts, 
and ordered a letter of appointment to be issued to Ma- 
comb as Captain in the Corps of Engineers, bearing rank 
from the llth of June, 1805. 

The works in the harbour of Portsmouth, in the 
State of New-Hampshire, requiring repairs, Captain 
Macomb was now ordered thither. Having satisfacto- 
rily finished this labour, he was next year appointed 
Superintendent of the important pubhc works then 
being erected at Mount Dearborn, on the Cataba river 
in South Carolina, about thirty-six miles above Cam- 
den, where it was intended to establish a Depot and 
national Armory for the Southern States. It was 
during the period of his employment at this place, that 
he compiled his treatise on Courts Martial, in conform- 
ity with the wishes formerly expressed by his brother 
officers. He submitted it to the inspection of General 



44 MEMOIR OF 

William R. Davie, a distinguished officer of the Revo- 
lution, a profound jurist, a gentleman who had approved 
himself at once a scholar, statesman, and soldier. He 
happened to be one of Macomb's nearest neighbours, 
being settled on his farm called Tivoli, near Landsford, 
almost eighteen miles distant from Mount Dearborn. 
The isolated situation of Davie and Macomb rendered 
an intercourse exceedingly agreeable, which soon ripen- 
ed into intimacy and friendship. Perhaps no man 
could have been a better Mentor for an young soldier, 
than General Davie ; for he had practiced the art of war 
in the field, was conversant with the events of the 
Revolution, familiar, by his political and historical stu- 
dies, with the theory and operation of governments, 
and, having been Envoy Extraordinary and Minister 
Plenipotentiary to France during the Consulate of Buo- 
naparte, he had witnessed the preparations for that 
splendid campaign which brought on the battle of Ma- 
rengo, and carefully acquainted himself with all the 
military as well as political improvements which were 
making in that country in those brilliant days of her 
prowess and renown. Such was the exalted opinion 
entertained of his character and capacity, that he was 
offered in the late war the appointment of Major Gene- 
ral, although of the party opposed to the Administra- 
tion, but which appointment he declined only, however,, 



MACOMB. 46 

on account of his infirmities, the result of a severe 
wound at the battle of Stono in the revolutionary war. 
Macomb submitted his Treatise to the criticism, also, 
of Major General Charles Cotsworth Pinckney, another 
worthy of the Revolution, an associate of Davie in the 
mission to France, and alike distinguished by his mili- 
tary acquirements and profound legal knowledge. 
These gentlemen pruned it of what they considered of 
a doubtful character, and suggested such improvements 
as their judgment dictated. The work was then print- 
ed, and presented to the Government. It received the 
approbation of the President and the Secretary of War, 
was adopted as the standard for the guidance of Courts 
Martial, and issued to the Army. Tt has ever since 
retained its official character, well sustained by its i 
trinsic merits. 

Captain Macomb continued to conduct the works at 
Mount Dearborn until the year 1807, when he was in- 
structed to take the general direction, as Chief Engi- 
neer, of the fortifications and other works contemplated 
for the defence of the harbours of the two Carolinas and 
Georgia. The conduct, at this time, of certain British 
vessels of war on our coast had been such as to oblige 
President Jefferson to issue his proclamation, interdicting 
them the waters of the United States. The Authori- 
ties of Charleston, finding their city much exposed 



46 MEMOIR OF 

from the dilapidated condition into which the forts had 
fallen, became alarmed for their safety in the case of a 
rupture with Great Britain, especially as a vessel of war, 
subsequently to the proclamation, had entered the har- 
bour, forcibly obtained a supply of water, and threatened 
retaliation. At the request of the Commander of the 
harbour, and to satisfy the citizens, Macomb repaired 
to Charleston, erected some temporary batteries at 
Fort Johnson, and mounted a sufficient number of 
heavy guns to make it inexpedient for any vessel of 
war to venture within reach of them. He then made 
a reconnoisance of the whole coast from Occaracock 
Inlet to the River St. Mary's, which divided the United 
^tat€3 from the Floridas, and projected a system of 

nporary works for the defence of all the principal har- 
bours and inlets. 

The attack upon the Frigate Chesapeake by the 
Leopard, a British ship of war, in June, 1807, roused 
i,he people to a sense of their violated sovereignty. All 
parties exclaimed, with one voice, that instant measures 
should be adopted to redress our injured honour, and 
vindicate our flag on land and water. Congress, 
almost always lagging behind the people, yet yielded 
appropriations for fortifying the principal points on our 
coasts ; and augmented the Army, by one Regiment 
of Riflemen, and one Regiment of Light Artillery, one 



MACOMB. 47 

Regiment of Light Dragoons, and five Regiments of 
Infantry. They also provided for an increase of the^ 
naval force, and for calUng out the Militia and Yoluji- 
teers. ^.v' 

Previously to the raising of this additional ferce, Ma- 
comb had been promoted to be Major of the Corps of 
Engineers, taking rank from the 3d of February, 1808. 
Arrangements having been made for the com- 
mencement of the works along the coast, Major Ma- 
comb began those intended for the defence of Charles- 
ton, and superintended them until the spring of 1812. 
On the 25th of February, 1811, Macomb had been 
promoted to be Lieutenant Colonel of the same Corps. 
In the month of September ensuing, he was detailed 
to sit as a member of a General Court Martial, assem- 
bled at Fredericktown, in Maryland, for the trial of 
Major General Wilkinson, his old Commander and 
friend. The General, however, was honourably acquit- 
ted of all the articles of accusation. The sympathy, 
formerly exhibited by the generous-hearted inhabitants 
of this town on the trial of Butler, was now, in an 
equal degree, extended toward Wilkinson, a man of 
genius and courage, of military experience, learning, 
and resources, and yet the victim of misfortune. The 
American People instinctively repel the idea of oppres- 



48 MEMOIR OP 

sion, assume what guise it may ; and hence are predis- 
"^losed to shield the persecuted and the unfortunate. 

Parties in the United States, at this time, were in 
> ... 

fearitd, coUision. The distracted and conflicting opi- 
nions in Congress rendered the course it would pursue, 
impossible to conjecturie. Between the English Orders 
in Council, and the Berhn and Milan Decrees, our com- 
merce was all but annihilated, and our resources pro- 
portionally diminished. In this crisis of affairs, finding 
peace for themselves impracticable between the two 
belligerents, the United States were compelled, once 
more, to appeal to the sword, as the final arbiter of dis- 
putes which negociation had failed to reach. The mili- 
tary and naval establishments, by successive legislation, 
were increased. The Secretary of War Eustis, desiring 
Lieut. Col. Macomb, to assist him in organizing the new 
Army, called him from his duties as Chief Engineer for 
the Southern States, and appointed him, on the 28th 
April, 1812, Adjutant General at the seat of Government. 
In this momentous exigency, he was charged with the 
most important trusts. Every thing was to be remoulded 
and cast into a warlike frame. The defects of the former 
system, growing up through a long period of peace, 
were palpable and manifold. The want of a well ar- 
ranged Staff, susceptible of expansion to suit the emer- 
gencies of active service ; of general, regimental, com- 



MACOMB. 49 

pany, and garrison regulations ; of local arrangements 
into departments and districts ; of an imiform course of 
tactics ; of a regular, rigid system of disbursements and 
accountability ; was to be supplied. The Regiments, 
raised under the several acts of Congress, were differ- 
ently constituted, both as to the strength of companies, 
and the number of companies in a Regiment, although 
of the same Corps — some conforming to the English, 
others to the French model. All these irregularities, he 
perceived, at once, with a keen military ken, could be 
productive only of confusion, extravagance, and ineffi- 
ciency, and consequent disaster and disgrace. He, there- 
fore, with wonted zeal and persevering energy, bent 
himself down to the task of their reformation. He ex- 
erted his best capacity to establish an uniform organ- 
ization through the army, and to introduce appropriate 
instructions for the respective arms of service. He also 
proceeded, in conjunction with General Smyth the In- 
spector General, and Colonel Pike the Acting Gluarter 
Master General, to designate and define the duties of 
the General Staff, to create depots of recruits, and in- 
fuse a spirit of activity into the preparations for the 
coming conflict. These arduous duties he effectually 
discharged, as far as limited time and means, and the 
pressure of the occasion, would permit. 

While thus employed, Colonel Williams, finding him- 

5 



50 MEMOIR OF 

self incompetent, from the infirmities of advancing agCj 
to the personal performance of his functions as Com- 
mander of the Corps of Engineers, offered to resign in 
favour of Lieut. Col. Macomb ; but Macomb, in com- 
mon with the other members of the Corps, cherishing 
a high regard for Williams, both as a valuable officer, 
and an estimable man, begged him to remain at the 
head of the Corps and the Academy, as their Parent 
and Patron, " decusque ornamentum ;" v^^hile Macomb, 
though stationed at the Seat of Government, charged 
himself with the duties and responsibility of the imme- 
diate command. This arrangement, so generous in 
Macomb, as well as honourable to the character, and 
gratifying to the feeUngs of Col. WilUams, was accepted 
by him with the liveUest sensibility and gratitude. 

War was, at length, determined on. It was not lor a 
man hke Macomb to linger among the bureaux and in 
the coteries of Washington, when the star-studded ban- 
ner, emblem of freedom and the Republic, was unfurled 
upon our ramparts, and floating in the camp. Our 
republican Court could present no allurements to him, 
while the laurelled field of war was outspread before 
him— victory, with her palmy honours, beckoning him 
to her embrace — and a nation's wrongs crying to her 
champions for redress. He immediately sought a com- 
mand in the hne of the Army. This, as an officer of 



MACOMB. 51 

the Engineers, under the existing rules of service, he 
could not receive. 

In a conversation with Calhoun and Lowndes, mem- 
bers of Congress, from South Carolina, on the disad- 
vantage and injustice of depriving the Engineers of 
the right of command, because their functions apper- 
tained to the higher branches of military science, Ma- 
comb urged that the avowed motive of their exclusion 
from the common privilege of officers was the strongest 
possible argument for their possession of it ; and, to 
illustrate this position, stated, by way of example, that 
if the city of Washington should be attacked, and an 
officer of the Engineers be present, he, although possi- 
bly the fittest person both to plan and to execute the 
means of its defence, could not exercise command, in 
accordance with his rank. Macomb, also, with his ac- 
customed forecast, predicted to these gentlemen, that, 
in the event of war, the Capital would, in all propabi- 
lity, be attempted ; and, unless the necessary measures 
of defence were adopted, would be carried by a coup de 
main, there being so many avenues, on which it might 
be approached by an enemy arriving in the Chesapeake. 

Sacrificing now, without hesitation, his permanent 
and most honuorable situation as Chief of the Engineer 
Corps, Macomb asked to be appointed to one of the new 
Regiments of Artillery. New- York being considered 



52 MEMOIR OF 

as entitled by allotment to that appointment, it was 
promised to him, if the Delegation of his State would 
agree to recommend him for it. He hinted this decla- 
ration of the Secretary of War, to the Hon. Samuel L. 
Mitchell, the Senator from New- York, who, with 
cheerfulness and alacrity, procured the assent of all 
the Delegation. Macomb was accordingly commission- 
ed on the 6th of July, 1812, Colonel of the 3d Regi- 
ment of Artillery, to consist of twenty companies, of 
118 men each. Colonel Macomb forthwith repaired to 
New- York and commenced the raising of his Regiment. 
Raised, equipped, organized, and disciplined, under his 
auspices, it soon constituted one of the finest, if not the 
very best, body of soldiers, in the American service. 
The air, esprit du corps, and efficiency of the Regi- 
ment, the character and intelligence of its officers, the 
strict subordination, soldierly deportment, and practiced 
tactics of the men, were universally admired, and be- 
came a model for the imitation of the Army. The ex- 
ample diffused a fine impulse, and stimulated the emu- 
lation of the less perfect troops. 

He assembled his Regiment at Greenbush ; and in 
November, 1812, marched it, by forced stages, to Sack- 
eti's Harbour, in order to embark it on board Commo- 
dore Chauncey's fleet, for the purpose of making an 
attack on Kingston. But, on the arrival of the Regi^ 



MACOMB. 53 

ment, Chauncey had sailed ; and the winter prema- 
turely setting in, it was decided, in a council of war, ia 
consequence of the liability of the Lake to be suddenly 
frozen over, that the contemplated enterprise must be 
deferred until the Spring. Macomb was compelled, 
therefore, to erect a cantonment at Sackett's Harbour, 
when the troops went into quarters, the 1st of January 
ensuing, necessarily exposed, until that time, to dwell, 
in that most inclement climate and season, in houses 
of canvass amid banks of snow. Colonel Macomb was 
authorized to assume the command of Sackett's Har- 
bour and the adjacent country, and also to convene 
General Courts Martial, and decide on their proceed- 
ings — so that he was now invested with a complete and 
independent command, except as to General Dearborn 
the Major General Commanding in Chief. There 
were assembled at this station, beside sailors and ma- 
rines for the fleet, a considerable number of militia, 
and volunteers. Such were the concihatory manners 
and address of Colonel Macomb, that an entire harmony 
of feeling and co-operation prevailed throughout his 
command, notwithstanding the contrariety of characters 
P and variety of interests composing it. The troops being 
settled in winter quarters, he was indefatigable in per- 
sonally attending the company and batallion drills and 
the evolutions of the line. Being for the most part in 

5* 



64 MEMOIR OP 

the immeiliate command of the troops at this station, it 
was his habit and dehght to practice them in all the 
varied combinations and manoeuvres of tactical science 
and skill, the amount of force being sufficient to illus- 
trate, practically, all the movements of an army, with 
the different arms proper to its composition. He fre- 
quently exercised them also on the ice of the Lakes, to 
inure them to the rigours of the cold and the fatigues 
of marching. 

Toward the close of the winter of 1812-13, he re- 
vived the design of attacking Kingston, principally with 
the view of destroying the enemy's vessels of war 
moored in the ice of that harbour. As some irregu- 
larities had taken place along the frontier, disturbing 
the peaceful inhabitants on either border, he availed 
himself of that circumstance as a pretext for sending a 
flag of truce across the Lake, ostensibly to bear a com- 
plaint against these marauding parties, and the propo- 
sal of an arrangement for putting a stop to such grie- 
vances in future ; but really to ascertain whether the 
ice was sufficiently sound, and free from crevices, in 
the whole direction to Kingston. This mission was? 
intrusted to Captain, now Colonel Crane, of the Artil- 
lery. The flag was borne on a Cariole, which entered 
the town unobserved, proceeded to the Quarters of the 
British General, and returned without interruption, 



MACOMB 55 

bringing the desired intelligence. The troops, mean- 
while, were duly prepared ; and the sailors, under Cap- 
tain Leonard of the Navy, were furnished with ladders 
for scaling the sides of the Birtish ships. To cover 
the design, an alarm was circulated, that Sir George 
Provost was about to attack Sackett's Harbour, and 
that he was collecting troops at Kingston for the pur- 
pose. The rumour, spreading on the wings of the 
wind, reached the ears of General Dearborn, at Alba- 
ny, who, taking it for a real alarm, set out forthwith in 
a sleigh and four horses, and reached Sackett's Har- 
bour in 48 hours. To convince the General that the 
whole was a mere device to deceive the enemy was found 
impossible. No — he had received credible reports from 
various quarters of the meditated attack. Under this 
conviction, he ordered all our troops at Plattsburgh to 
hasten to the succour of the threatened post. The 
deep snows prevented their march on foot ; and, con- 
sequently, sleighs were hired or pressed to bring on 
Chandler's and Pike's Brigades, by the St. Lawrence 
route. Instead of an attack, the troops were now put 
on the defensive. Thus the incipient project was 
nipped in the bud : a sore disappointment, not only to 
Macomb, but to the officers of his command, who were 
panting for victory, and who, in imagination, had 
already reaped promotion. 



56 MEMOIR OF 

Commodore Chaimce)^, who had been absent at 
New- York, during the early part of the winter, after 
his squadron was laid up, on hearing the alarm, had 
also repaired to the Harbour. General Dearborn, 
always circumspect, yet firm, soon afterward held a 
council of war, consisting of himself, Commodore 
Chauncey, and Colonel Macomb, when it was decided, 
that the season was too far advanced, to justify the 
attack of Kingston on the ice ; but that preparations 
should be made for an attack by land and sea, on either 
Kingston or York as might be deemed most expedient, 
for the expulsion of the British forces from Lake On- 
tario, and, subsequently, from Fort George and the 
Niagara frontier. General Pike, who was just then 
promoted to the rank of a Brigadier, was to conduct the 
contemplated expedition, and Colonel Macomb to con- 
tinue in command of Sackett's Harbour. York was 
the point selected for attack. Though bravely defended, 
it was still more bravely captured, by many feats of 
heroism ; yet with great loss on the American side, from 
the explosion of a magazine. The ruins of York were 
the mausoleum for some of our finest soldiers ; and here 
the gallant Pike breathed out his spirit into the arms of 
victory. 

The attack on Fort George was to be the next en- 
terprise. Macomb's Regiment, both from its established 



MA.COMB. 67 

discipline and the nature of its arm, was regarded by 
General Dearborn as the most suitable for the defence 
of Sackett's Harbour, and was reluctant to withdraw it 
from that important post. Yet as the officers of that 
Regiment could ill restrain their impatience to partici- 
pate in the movements of the field and the honours of 
conquest, and earnestly petitioned to join the enterprise, 
the Commander in Chief yielded up, in a degree, the 
dictates of his own judgment to the gratification of their 
ambition, and permitted a part of the Regiment to em- 
bark with the fleet ; but, justly weighing the vast im- 
portance of the safety of that Harbour, peremptorily 
ordered Macomb to remain with the residue of the 
troopsj for its protection ; and, especially to concert 
and execute, in conjunction with Commodore Chauncey, 
the necessary measures for the security of the naval 
stores and of the shipping then building, which were 
essential to give the American fleet the ascendancy on 
the Lakes. 

In submitting to a separation, in this instance, from 
a part of his Regiment, Macomb acted on those pure 
exalted principles, w^hich lose sight of all personal con- 
siderations, in unbounded devotion to the interests of 
the service and of the country ; like Washington, 
whose love of glory was always subordinate to his sense 
of duty and of patriotism. Indeed Macomb's avowed 



5S MEMOIR OF 

maxim has always been, that the fiist duty of a soldier, 
next to his obligations to his country, is obedience to 
orders. Macomb now employed himself in strengthen- 
ing the defences, and obstructing every avenue of ap- 
proach. On his own responsibility, he stopped the 
troops ordered for the Niagara frontier, and directed 
them to march to the Harbour. Having executed every 
practicable measure, for the security of the place, he put 
Colonel Backus of the Light Dragoons in the command, 
and gave him a letter from General Dearborn calling 
out the Militia of the vicinity, to be presented to Gene- 
ral Brown then commanding the Militia, in case the 
enemy should appear on the Lake in a threatening 
attitude toward that point. He also left with Colonel 
Backus a plan of the Harbour, with his own opinion 
of the best mode of stationing the troops in case of at- 
tack, indicating on the map the only points assailable. 

Macomb having satisfied that excellent officer Com- 
modore Chauncey, that every thing was done which 
lay in his power, and that, if his directions were follow- 
ed, the Harbour in all human probabihty would be safe 
until the fleet could return, they embarked together, 
and joined tlie army and fleet at the Four Mile Creek, 
a short distance from the mouth of the Niagara on the 
American side. Their arrival was on the ] 1th of May, 
when every preparation for the attack was already 



MACOMB. 59 

iDade, waiting only for Commodore Chauncey. Gene- 
ral Dearborn, regietting the anticipated departure of 
Macomb from Sackett's Harbour, had despatched a 
fast sailing Schooner "The Lady of the Lake," to 
meet him, and direct him to return, the General's ap- 
prehensions for the safety of that place having greatly 
increased. The Schooner, however, missed Macomb in 
the night ; and he reported himself the next morning 
to the General. The commands having been all as- 
signed to the General and other principal officers, Ge- 
neral Dearborn formed a sort of second reserve of Ma- 
comb's Regiment and the Marines. The force debark- 
ed in the morning of the 13th of May, and, after a brisk 
fire with the enemy, who soon gave way, gained quiet 
possession of the town of Niagara and Fort George. 
The resistance to our arms was too quickly subdued, 
and the flight too precipitate, to allow much scope 
for the display of generalship. The enemy having been 
completely routed in all directions. Colonel Macomb re- 
ceived orders to return with four companies of his Regi- 
ment, with all despatch, to Sackett's Harbour. Com- 
modore Chauncey received the Colonel and his troops 
on board his fleet and returned ; but, on his way, sailed 
over toward Kingston, to ascertain whether the enemy 
was in port — if so, to give him an opportunity of co- 
ming out for an engagement ; and if not, to meet him on 



60 MEMOIR OF 

the Lake. He found the enemy snugly moored under 
the batteries of Kingston, who manifested no desire to 
change his position. Chauncey, then, steered for our 
Harbour, on approaching which it was evident that the 
enemy had visited it. The magazine of stores, fired 
by our own officers to prevent its falhng into the ene- 
my's hands, was still smoking. But the precautions 
taken, and the instructions given, by Colonel Macomb, 
prior to his departure for Fort George, had produced 
their desired effect, and the enemy was defeated. 
Colonel Macomb relieved General Brown, then Bri- 
gadier General of the MiUtia. Colonel Backus he 
found in his quarters, who was suffering from a wound 
in the action, and died a few days after. To this 
affair, General Brown owed his first appointment in 
the Army, the President conferring on him the rank 
of Brigadier General in the regular service. This ap- 
pointment at the time excited much dissatisfaction. It 
was considered, by some, as a flagrant violation of the 
rights of the regular officers, and more particularly of 
Macomb himself A cabal was getting up, by those 
who had erroneously imbibed unfavorable impressions 
against Brown, from the slanders which the opponents 
of the Administration had heaped upon him. But 
Macomb used every exertion to allay the ferment. He 
always exhibited the greatest respect for General Brown. 



MACOMB. . 61 

and hoped, by the influence of his personal example, 
to re-establish that harmony, without which the Army 
can be neither useful to the State, nor honourable to 
itself. He represented, and strongly impressed upon 
the officers, the rights of the Government, and their 
duty of obedience. General Brown's subsequent valu- 
able services, his sound common sense, his undaunted 
firmness and energy, and the many good qualities of 
his character, as well as his former pohtical standing 
and popular influence, sufficiently indicate the proprie- 
ty of his appointment. 

In the summer of 1813, General Wilkinson took 
command of the Northern Army, and arrangements 
were made for the invasion of Canada. Macomb was 
first assigned to the command of the Artillery, amount- 
ing to 45 pieces of all calibers and descriptions. This 
quantity of ordnance he conceived to be unnecessarily 
great, and too ponderous for the expedition on foot. 
He, therefore, recommended to General Wilkinson to 
reduce it to two IS pounders, four 8 inch howitzers, and 
four 6 pounders, as the country in which the Army 
was to operate would not admit of, nor the occasion re- 
quire, a larger complement of field artillery — there being 
nothing to be besieged, except some field-works, block- 
houses, and perhaps strong stone-buildings. As this 
opinion was in direct opposition to Wilkinson's, he pro- 

6 



62 MEMOIR OP 

posed to Macomb to take command of the Elite, com- 
posed of his own Regiment, the 20th Regiment, For- 
syth's Riflemen, and Major Herkimer's New- York Vo- 
lunteers, amounting in all to about 1600 men. This 
command was, in the order of battle, called the Reserve; 
and was to be disposed of under the special orders of 
the Commander in Chief. The proposition was readily 
accepted by Macomb, as he foresaw that there would be 
httle use for Artillery in the contemplated expedition. 
The Artillery was then transferred to Brevet Brigadier 
General Porter, who had just arrived from the Niagara 
frontier. The batteaux being provided and distributed, 
and every practicable preparation made for the cam- 
paign, the whole army was ordered to rendezvous at 
Grenadier Island, near the mouth of the St. Lawrence, 
and nearly opposite Kingston. To this place the 
Division, which had been serving on the Niagara, re- 
paired, under Brig. Gen. Boyd. Brig. Gen. Brown, 
also, availing himself of a good wind, arrived thither 
from Sackett's Harbour. The Reserve and the Artil- 
lery were kept back by the want of necessary trans- 
ports. Violent storms, so peculiarly dangerous on the 
Lakes, prevailed at this time, it being about the middle 
of October ; but General Wilkinson, impatient of delay, 
directed the boats to set out, and try the Lake at all 
hazards. The boats, crammed with men, provisions, 



MACOMB. 63 

aitiileryj and munitions, were difficult of management ; 
and the wind rising into a tempest on that turbulent 
sea, endangered the whole flotilla, rendering the navi- 
gation of it impracticable. Macomb, with his Corps, 
succeeded in reaching Chaumont Bay, while the greater 
part of the boats was dispersed, some luckily escaping 
to the shore, some filled with the billows, and others 
dashed upon the rocks. On the subsiding of the storm, 
the boats were repaired, and pursued their destination. 
One of the boats, with an officer and thirty men, was 
driven into Kingston : which circumstance apprized the 
enemy of the movement of the army, and prompted 
him to send out his gun-brigs to watch our further 
progress. 

The force collected on Grenadier Island amounted to 
something hke 8000 men. On the 1st of November 
the army proceeded in their beatteaux to French Creek, 
where an order was issued, assigning the relative posi- 
tions to be observed, in sailing, by the several Corps and 
Brigades, and by the store-vessels. The enemy ap- 
peared from behind the Islands, with two gun-brigs, 
two schooners and ten gun-boats ; and opened a fire 
on the camp, doing some execution, but was soon re- 
pelled with loss by our cannon. The American fleet 
heaving in sight, the hostile flotilla effected its escape 
among the numerous islands. The chmate now wore 



64 MEMOIR OF 

its serenest aspect. The surrounding scenery, under our 
autumnal sky so justly praised for its unrivalled beau- 
ties, was clothed with robes of mellow richness w^hich pre • 
seuted a thousand vivid and ever varying hues, and in- 
vested the objects of the landscape, sky, water and foliage 
and the clustered islands, in prismatic splendour. The 
troops re-embarked in the various boats and barges^ 
each bearing a flag to designate the particular Brigade, 
Corps, or department, to which it belonged — the Gene- 
ral in Chief carrying the American ensign at his mast 
head — the others, red, blue, white, green, yellow, or 
black badges and banners, according to order. Three 
hundred boats .of different sizes, accompanied by the 
fleet under Chauncey, combining the pegeantry of war 
with the safety of peace, quietly floating along, like 
gondolas of a gala day, on the beautiful bosom of the 
majestic St. Lawrence, afforded a spectacle entirely 
novel, enrapturing, and grand. 

The fleet returned in search of the enemy. The 
troops w^ere disembarked near Ogdensburgh, and placed 
under the direction of Colonel Macomb, who was to 
lead them through that town in the evening, so as not 
to attract the notice of the enemy, who had a s(rong 
battery at Fort WeUington, opposite Ogdensburgh. 
The boats, also, were ordered to descend the river in the 
night, having only a sufficient number of men to row 



MACOMB. 



65 



them, with muffled oars. As the head of the cokimn 
on its march rose the bank on the opposite side of the 
Oswegatche, their bright arms, glittering in the moon- 
light, disclosed them to the enemy. The battery of 
Fort Wellington opened on the column ; but the shower 
of shot and shell, being too elevated, passed over harm- 
less and unheeded. The boats were less fortunate, 
suffering some, though sHght damage. Fort Welling- 
ton being passed, the Commanding General directed 
Colonel Macomb to cross the St. Lawrence, and clear 
the Canadian bank of batteries or troops, whicli might 
obstruct the passage of the army down the river. About 
this time. Colonel Winfield Scott, of the 2d Regiment 
of Artillery, arrived at Macomb's position, and, stating 
that he was without a command, asked him for a place 
in his Corps d'elite. Macomb, always the friend of the 
chivalric Scott, offered him the command of the parti- 
cular battalion of his own Regiment, which he had re- 
served for himself. Scott, with his usual alacrity when- 
ever honour was to be courted, and whereever danger 
awaited him, readily accepted, and joined in the expedi- 
tion. Macomb crossed with his Corps into Canada, re- 
moved the obstacles in his progress, and took possession 
of a small work called Fort Matilda. 

The whole army now followed and pursued its march 
on the enemy's territory. The Elite was ordered to be- 

6* 



66 MEMOIR OF 

come the advance. Brown's Brigade joining with it, 
il marched down to Cornwall. On the way a consi- 
derable body of mihtia, under a regular Colonel, at a 
place called Hoop-pole Creek, occupied a Block House 
on the right bank of the Creek, and a hill on the oppo- 
site side. On the approach to this place, they fired a 
few shot, and fled. They then opened a fire from the 
thickets ; but, as soon as our artillery began to play, 
they fled again. The advance marched on till dark, 
when they encamped at Barnhart's, near Cornwall. 
The next day brought about the battle of Chrisler's 
Field. 

It was a politic movement on the part of the British, 
when they found our Army pushing its progress down 
the St. Lawrence, in order to make a descent on Mon- 
treal, to detach parties to hang upon our rear and har- 
rass our flanks. The delay on our part, occasioned 
by useless halts and complicated arrangements as to 
the order of march, enabled the British to collect their 
troops from Kingston and other points along the river, 
and to press upon our movements. They watched 
their opportunity to fall upon our rear, in the hope, pro- 
bably, of causing the army to retrograde, if not to bring 
on a general action — thus to gain time to strengthen 
the defences of Montreal, and to concentrate at that 
post from below all their disposable troops for the pur- 



MACOMB. 67 

pose of meeting our attack. With this view, Captain 
Mulcaster of the British Navy, with nine or ten gun- 
boats, carrying heavy pieces of ordnance, had been sent 
in pursuit ; and Colonel Morrison of their Army, with 
the land forces at his command, was intrusted with the 
conduct of the expedition. Our Army unfortunately 
halted to oppose him — first by small detachments — 
then by a considerable portion of the whole force — un- 
til the main body became retarded, and, in some degree, 
engaged in the conflict. The opposing parties were 
about equal in number. The British, however, had 
the advantage of position : and were attacked under 
circumstances most unpropitious to us. Their line ex- 
tended from the river to the woods — their right resting 
on the St. Lawrence, covered by the gun-boats under 
Captain Mulcaster — their left extending to the woods, 
protected by numerous bands of Savages and Militia — 
and their front fortified by a strong log fence, behind 
which they formed for action. Our troops attacked 
them bravely, but unskilfully. Avoiding their fortified 
front, our whole force should have been brought to bear 
upon their left flank, which being turned, their gun- 
boats would have been rendered inoperative — we should 
have obtained possession of the woods — and they, in 
the open field, would have been exposed to our fire, the 
distance between the woods and river being within 



68 MEMOIR OP 

the range of musketry. After a hard-fought action, in 
which gallant feats were performed on either side, the 
firing was mutually suspended. Here our impetuous 
General Boyd, of romantic enthusiasm and patriotic 
fire, displayed his wonted spirit of audacious ambition 
which laughed at obstacles, and coveted perils as a 
pastime ; and here the estimable Covington breathed 
out his last. Colonel Macomb, being in the advance, 
could not participate in this affair ; but succeeded to the 
command of Covington's Brigade. The Americans 
at night slept on the battle-ground ; and the next day 
continued their march. The British gave up the pur- 
suit. The season being considered too far advanced 
for the troops to remain longer in the field, they re- 
crossed the St. Lawrence, and went into winter quarters 
at French Mills on the Salmon River, the 13th Novem- 
ber, 1813. 

Thus terminated this campaign, which, how^ever 
well matured, was, from defective execution, so disas- 
trous and discreditable in its results. It is not the part 
of this memoir to discuss its merits ; but it is an act of 
jubtice to history and to Wilkinson to state, that a mis- 
understanding existed between him and General Hamp- 
ton—the former charging the latter with disobedience 
of orders and consequent responsibility for the failure of 
the enterprise. 



MACOMB. 69 

In the preceding September, General John Arm- 
strong, the Secretary of War, had come on to Sackett's 
Harbour, personally to inspect, personally to direct, the 
department of war in that sphere of its then most vital 
operations. He conceived and dehneated the campaign 
of 1813, which, if executed with the ability with which 
it was planned, would probably have placed its origi- 
nator in the executive chair of these States. In the 
general conduct of the department and, especially, of 
the Army, he created a new spirit. He increased the 
efficiency of the latter, by throwing aside its cumber- 
some lumber of ignorance, stupidity, and dissipation. 
Though himself of undaunted valour, and capable of 
skilful and profound combinations, yet he had to depend 
on imperfect instrumentality ; and, from want of expe 
rience, was greater in the theory than in the practice of 
war. His pen, perhaps, is his forte. This alone is 
terrible, " as an army with banners," The pen is the 
author's sword — and his is a Damascus blade, of finest 
temper, with ground edge, and polished point. His is 
not the Ciceronian flow, but the Demosthenian force — 
not the effulgence of Burke nor the majesty of Johnson, 
but the raciness and poignancy of Junius and Juvenal. 

The ensuing December, General Wilkinson des- 
patched Colonel Macomb from Milone with a flag of 
truce to the Head Quarters of Sir George Provost, bear- 



70 MEMOIR OF 

ing a communication relative to hostages. He was not 
permitted to proceed further than Chateaugay, where 
lie was conducted to the (Quarters of General De Wal- 
tenville ; and, after the despatch was read by Sir George, 
he was reconducted out of the country by the w^ay of 
St. John's and St. Armand's, and thence was obliged 
to go by Burlington before he could return to Melone. 
This route was prescribed, no doubt, with a view to 
prevent Macomb from acquiring any intelligence of the 
country, and to gain time, that winter might set in, be- 
fore Wilkinson could have another chance to operate 
against Sir George. 

Macomb resumed the command of the Artillery, and 
continued in it until the 24th of January, 1814, w^hen 
he Was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General, and 
assigned to the Brigade of the late Covington, com- 
posed of the 9th Regiment under Aspinwall, of the 16th 
under Pierce, and the 25th under Gaines. The cam- 
paign having closed in a manner so unsatisfactory to the 
Government and Nation, orders w^ere given by the War 
Department to break up the quarters at French Mills, 
and for the Army to retire to Sackett's Harbour, Platts- 
burgh, and Burlington, where barracks had been pro- 
vided. Wilkinson removed his head quarters to Platts- 
burgh. Brigadier General Macomb conducted the 
troops destined to that place, and Major General Brown 



MACOMB. 71 

the other division to Sackett's Harbour. Macomb was 
then appointed to the command of the troops on the East 
side of Lake Champlain, and took up his quarters at 
BurHngton. To guard against the smuggUng carried 
on along the Hnes, Macomb was ordered to detach 
Colonel Isaac Clarke with his Regiment : He was 
afterward instructed to proceed with his command and 
take possession of the town of St. Armand. As there 
was no force in that quarter, except the local militia, 
the place made no resistance. Macomb now received 
orders to join Wilkinson at Champlain, a village on the 
frontiers of New-York. He forthwith marched his 
Brigade, with four pieces of Artillery, to that place. 
The season being far advanced, "Wilkinson designed, 
as soon as he had collected the troops from Plattsburgb, 
to attack La Cole Mills, a fortified position on the St. 
John's, and also carry the outposts in its vicinity, in 
order to bring on a general action. Having received an 
intimation that he would be relieved in the command 
of the Northern Army the ensuing spring, Wilkinson 
was desirous, by the present enterprise, to retrieve his 
military reputation, to cover the disappointment of the 
campaign on the St. Lawrence, and secure the popular 
favour against the manifest displeasure of the War 
Department. The time, unfortunately selected, was 
too late in the winter, and too early in the spring. 



72 MEMOIR OF 

Macomb objected to the plan of engaging the whole 
force, amounting to about 4000 effective soldiers, in 
such an affair — the opposing garrison consisting pro- 
bably of not more than 200 or 300 men at most ; but 
he recommended that one Brigade should make the 
attack on the Fort, or, with hot shot, set fire to the 
roof and burn out the garrison. The rest of the force 
might move forward to render any assistance, should it 
be found necessary ; but it was evident, from the depth 
of the snow, the condition of the roads, and the im- 
penetrable character of the surrounding woods, that a 
large force could not operate so promptly, nor be so 
well directed, as a smaller body of men. It was, how- 
ever, an object on w^hich General Wilkinson's mind 
was bent. A council of war was called ; and, after 
much consultation, they reluctantly yielded to his de- 
sires. The attack was made on the 30th of March, 
1814. The event verified Macomb's prediction, being 
completely abortive. In this affair, Macomb commanded 
the Reserve. The conduct of dur troops was highly 
evincive of their discipUne and firmness ; and the Bri- 
tish Commander also signalized himself by a gallant 
defence of his position. 

Our troops returned to their old quarters at Platts- 
burgh and BurUngtoii, leaving a piquet at Champlain. 
Wilkinson, as had been expected, was recalled, and 



MACOMB. 73 

Macomb was ordered to assume the command, until 
the arrival of Major General Tzard, who had been 
nominated as the successor of Wilkinson. Brigadier 
General Macomb estabhshed his head quarters at 
Plattsburgh, and assiduously employed himself in put- 
ting the troops in order for the next campaign. On his 
relieving General Wilkinson, he ordered an officer of 
the Engineers to proceed to Otter Creek, with instruc- 
tions to erect a battery for the protection of the avenue 
leading to the dockyards, where M'Donough was pre- 
paring his fleet. General Izard, by and by, arrived 
and took the command, when Macomb removed his 
quarters to his old position in Burlington. While in 
the chief command of the Army on this station, Ma- 
comb afforded Commodore M'Donough every assistance 
in his power, ordered a Regiment to guard his sloops at 
Virgennes, and furnished him men enough to supply 
the deficiencies in his crews, who were to act either as 
sailors or as marines. 

The British flotilla at the Isle aux Noix, on the 9th 
of May, entered Lake Champlain, with a large detach- 
ment of marines, for the purpose of capturing or de- 
stroying the vessels recently launched at Yergennes, or 
of intercepting the stores and supplies intended for their 
equipment and armament; the British Commander 
knowing that M'Donough was then in no condition to 

7 



74 MEMOIR OP 

oppose him. The enemy appeared off Plattsburgb, 
fired on the piquet at Appletree Point, and then steered 
up the lake. On seeing the course which the flotilla 
had taken, General Macomb ordered the Light Artille- 
ry under Captain Thornton, with the necessary trans- 
portation, to proceed to Otter Creek, in order to man 
the batteries Avhich he had previously caused to be con- 
structed for the defence of our naval depot. Captain 
Thomton was quickly supplied ^vith transports, by that 
active Quarter Master Major Staunton, and reached his 
destination at one o'clock the next morning. He had 
just time to make his arrangements for the reception of 
the British flotilla, which, at dawn of day, commenced the 
attack in expectation of but a slender resistance. The 
flotilla, consisting of one brig of 18 guns and 13 galleys 
carrying 16 heavy guns, found themselves, however, 
so severely handled, that they judged it expedient to 
abandon the enterprise, and return to the Isle aux Noix. 
Thus, by his coup d'oeil, vigilance, and foresight, Ma- 
comb anticipated the designs of the enemy, and effec- 
tually frustrated a well-concerted plan to destroy our 
incipient Navy on Lake Champlain — by this single 
act making himself auxihary to the future triumph of 
the Navy on our Lakes, and entitling himself to the 
nation's lasting gratitude. 

The Governor General of Canada having early in 



MACOMB. 75 

the summer of 1814 reinforced his frontier on the Nia- 
gara with a considerable body of fresh troops, the posi- 
tion of General Brown became exceedingly critical. 
General Izard, who had now collected a handsome 
force on the Champlain frontier, could not brook the 
idea of inactivity. He pointed out to the War Depart- 
ment the advantage which would result from, and so- 
licited the privilege of, marching his best troops to the 
relief of General Brown ; leaving the residue for the 
protection of Plattsburgh. The orders granted on the 
application of General Izard, he did not receive until 
late in August. Meanwhile, the Champlain frontier 
had assumed an entirely new aspect. The highly dis- 
ciplined and veteran troops of Wellington from France 
and the Peninsula were pouring into Canada, and con- 
centrating under Sir George Provost between La Prairie 
and Chambly — Lieut. Gen. Baron de Rottenberg having 
the immediate command there. Indeed a heavy detach- 
ment under Major Gen. Sir Thomas Brisbane had alrea- 
dy advanced nearly as far as Odletown, within 8 or 10 
miles of Izard's Head (Quarters. Izard's command 
at this time, consisted of Macomb's, Smith's, and Bis- 
sel's Brigades, amounting in all to about 5000 effective 
soldiers. Notwithstanding this change in the relative 
position of the frontiers, Izard felt himself invested 
with no discretionary authority to rescind or modify 



76 MEMOIR OF 

the orders under which he was called to act. On 
the 27th of August, therefore, he marched for Niagara, 
leaving Macomb in command of about 2500 men, the 
remnants of a variety of regiments scattered in different 
directions, of which only about eighteen hundred were 
fit for duty. Although it was currently beheved that 
the force collected by Sir George between La Prairie 
and Chambly was large, yet none, at first, formed an 
adequate conception of its extent. It was afterward 
ascertained that the troops which arrived from the Ga- 
ronne amounted to 16,000 picked soldiers, commanded 
by some of the most approved Generals, in the British 
service. Of this number, 2000 were detached for the 
Niagara under General Kempt, and were replaced by 
the Voltigeurs and other Canadian Corps. 

Learning that Izard had marched w^th so large a 
portion of his troops to reinforce the army at Fort Erie, 
Sir George, in order to check that movement, put his 
own. army in motion, and crossed the lines at Odletown 
on the 1st of September. Here Macomb, left as it were 
alone, with only a handful of men, was put to the ut- 
most stretch of his ability how to meet the occasion. 
It was one of those turning points in the character and 
fortune of individual history, when the weak sink, bu- 
ried beneath the pressing magnitude of the emergency ; 
but wliere the great more greatly rise, repercussive vi- 



MACOMB. 77 

gour, educing resourcesTrom barren fortune, and vindi- 
cating the supremacy of genius by the title of nature's 
law. Witli such feeble means against overwhelming 
power ; with, in a great degree, the destiny of his coun- 
try in his hand ; he stood, like Leonidas at the Defile, in 
a crisis of the most fearful responsibilities, from which 
ordinary men would instinctively have shrunk, but 
which the glorious covet. How he acquitted himself 
of this momentous trust, the event has demonstrated to 
the admiration of his own country, of the world, and of 
posterity. 

The troops actually on the Champlain frontier, on 
the 1st of September, consisted only of one hundred and 
ten Riflemen. The 6th and 29th Regiments, amount- 
ing to about 750 men, Macomb had previously ordered 
to Plattsburgh, whither he determined to converge his 
whole command, as the point, in his judgment, best 
adapted for the repulsion of the enemy, for the defence 
of the large military stores on that station, and the in- 
cidental protection of our fleet. There had been com- 
menced, under the direction of that laborious and scien- 
tific officer Major Totten of the Engineers, three Re- 
doubts on the South side of the Saranac, a small river 
that runs through the town and discharges itself into 
Lake Champlain. In its winding course through the 
town, it forms a peninsula of the tongue of land which 



78 MEMOIR OF 

lies between it and the Lake, the gorge or neck of the 
peninsula being about 400 yards across. It was on 
the gorge that the fortifications were being erected, con- 
sisting of three detached works so disposed as to flank 
and defend each other on any assailable side. Two of 
the works, one resting on the Saranac, the other on 
the Lake, were deemed inaccessible on their water 
fronts, from the height and precipitancy of the banks. 
On all other sides these works were surrounded by wide 
and deep ditches, defended by caponiiieres ; and the 
glacis were covered with multiplied rows of abatis con- 
structed of trees well secured in the ground, the branch- 
es sharpened so as to stand out like so many bayonets. 
There were, besides, two block-houses mounted with 
cannon, and advantageously posted to guard the river 
and the ravines on the north side leading to the redoubts. 
The troops, with all despatch, were organized both for 
the completion and defence of the several works. 
Working parties were detailed, with orders to execute 
the instrucjtions of the Engineers. The principal fort 
had been called by General Izard, Fort Moreau ; and 
Macomb, in compliment to our gallant countrymen 
Brown and Scott, both of whom had just distinguished 
themselves on the Niagara, named that on the Saranac 
Foi't Brown, and that on the Lake Fort Scott. He 
afterward erected another redoubt, more in advance, on 



MACOMB. 79 

the south side, and gave it the name of Fort Gaines^ 
after another of our distinguished Generals. Having 
assigned the artillery to the batteries in the several i"e- 
doubtSj he formed, out of the residue of his force, four 
small corps of observation, placing 250 men under 
Major Wool of the 29th, 200 under Major Sproul of 
the 13th, 100 armed with rifles under Captain Grosve- 
nor of the 26th, and 110 riflemen under Lieut. Col. 
Appling. Appling's command was posted on the Great 
Chazy to watch the movements of the enemy, and give 
information. Beside these, there were a number of 
young men of Plattsburgh who organized themselves 
into a little company of about 30, under Aikin and 
Flagg, the latter of whom is now Secretary of State 
for the State of New- York, and is worthy of his pro- 
motion ; and also a detachment of 12 dragoons, who 
occasionally served as videts, and escorted the General in 
his recognoisances. The light troops were now sent 
out on the various avenues of approach, to watch the 
motions of the enemy, to dispute the passes, obstruct 
the roads, destroy the bridges, and abatis the woods by 
felling the trees. 

The next measure was an appeal to the Militia. 
Not being oflScially authorized to call for drafts, Macomb 
addressed himself, by public appeals, to the patriotism 
and valour of the citizens of New- York and Vermont, 



80 MEMOIR OF 

particularly of the Governors of those States, and the 
Generals of Militia in his immediate neighbourhood. 
His call was promptly responded to. General Moores, 
commanding the Militia in the northern part of the 
State of New- York, displayed much zeal on the occa- 
sion. Experienced as a regular officer of the Revolution, 
and popular from his personal merits, his counsel and 
influence were highly appreciated by Macomb. He 
now held a consultation with the Commander of our 
Squadron on the Lake, and concerted with him, in 
perfect unison of feeling and action, a plan of mutual 
co-operation, as far as was practicable. A reciprocal 
esteem and confidence, instead of an envious rivalship 
and professional jealousy, between our land and navai 
Commanders, in this national exigency, fortunately for 
the honour of our arms, fortunately for the safety of our 
country, uniformly prevailed. Out of his very limited 
force, though to his own most imminent hazard, Ma- 
comb supplied M'Donough with 310 men, without 
which it would have been difficult, if not impossible, for 
M'Donough to manoeuvre his Squadron, or keep the 
Lake. With Macomb the paramount motive is always 
his public duty. On all his actions he legibly inscribes 
his motto, " My Country." In his eye, the success, 
alike of the army or the fleet, was the triumph of a 
common cause. How few Commanders, in similar 



MACOMB. 81 

circumstancesj could have exhibited the same signal 
example of disinterestedness— the same spirit of heroic 
self-sacrifice — of a patriotism superior even to the love of 
glory — preferring the consciousness of the highest virtue 
before the statue and the column which embody the 
conqueror's fame ! 

While the British lay at Odletown, trusting in the 
superiority of their numbers, they permitted their camp 
to be open to any American citizen who chose to enter 
it ; yet it was difficult to ascertain their real strength. 
By some it was estimated at 10,000 ; by others at 
20,000 ; and by others again as high as 25,000. By 
actual returns, which afterward fell into the hands of 
the American Commander, it is known that the force, 
with which they marched upon Plattsburgh, amounted 
to 14,000 effective regular soldiers, besides 2000 who 
were left as a reserve, to keep up the communication 
with Canada, and to prevent any American^ force from 
crossing over from Vermont to assail them in tbeir rear. 
Such was their confidence of victory, that a body of 
merchants accompanied the expedition, with a v'iew of 
disposing of their goods in the conquered parts of^the 
United States. The news of the capture of our na-^ 
tional Capital, about this time, was received at Platts- 
burgh. Macomb knowing that it would soon reach the 
British Camp, seized the opportunity of sending to 



82 MEMOIR OF 

Major General Sir Thomas Brisbane, commanding the 
British advance, an intelligent officer, bearing a flag, 
with his compliments and the newspapers of the day, 
together with an extra containing an account of the 
capture. By this means he expected not only to learn, 
with more accuracy, the position and strength of the 
enemy ; but also to convince them, that he viewed the 
affair of Washington, as a mere ordinary occurrence of 
war, and not as a disheartening augury of further defeat. 
Frequent importunities from highly respectable sources 
were addressed to Macomb, urging him to retire, and 
thereby save his small band, the town of Plattsburgh, 
and the public stores which could be easily and safely 
sent up the Lake. They represented that the country 
in his rear was open, and that, in such circumstances, 
be/ore such fearful odds, not only would a retreat be not 
dishonourc^ble ; but to remain would be a wanton sacri- 
fice of live^ and property. These importunities he had 
to silence, while the real difficulties of the occasion 
were sufficiently girding. Suppose he had yielded to 
those repeated and powerful solicitations, as, in a military 
point of view, he would have been justified, and was, 
perhaps, even required to do ! Suppose, in consequence, 
Sir George had triumphantly entered our country ! 
Suppose the news of his progress had annulled the 
negociations at Ghent, and continued the country in 



MACOMB. 83 

war, with an exhausted treasury , a 'prostrate credit, 
and disaffection in a great mass of the 2?eople ! 
What the consequences ? What the services of him 
who averted them? But, away, away, with supposi- 
tions of disaster ! The decision, which Macomb iin- 
hesitatingly took, and unflinchingly maintained, in 
that appalling situation, even his enemies, if he have 
any, must acknowledge, as xm illustration, than which 
all history presents not a brighter, of the highest subli- 
mity of moral courage. 

On the 3d of September, the whole British army 
entered the town of Champlain. The small detach- 
ment of riflemen under Lieut. Col. Appling still re- 
mained on the Great Chazy, watching the movements 
of Sir George. It now became necessary to advance 
the militia and light corps on the road which he was 
taking. They were directed to avail themselves of the 
obstacles which had been by previous instructions, or 
might be, by their own exertions, thrown in the ene- 
my's way — the broken bridges, fallen trees, and passes 
of chevaux de frise and abatis — and to dispute the 
ground inch hy inch : for every hour's delay was now 
of consequence, as every hour gave additional strength 
to the yet rising parapets and unfinished battlements. 
Whether or not these precautionary obstructions had 
their desired effect of impeding the progress of Sir 



84 MEMOIR OF 

George, or to whatever cause it may be ascribed, his 
delay was alike disastrous to the British arms, and glo- 
rious in its effects to the American cause. 

On the 4Lh, the Governor General moved forward 
upon Plattsburgh. Appling with his riflemen fell back 
slowl}^, pulhng down the bridges on his retreat, and ob- 
structing the pursuit by throwing into the road large 
trees with their branches pointing to the enemy. Sir 
George halted at the village of Little Chazy, and con- 
tinued there the whole of the Sth* It was ascertained, 
that, the next day at dawn, he would advance in two 
columns on the two roads, dividing at Sampson's a 
little above Chazy. The militia of New- York, amount- 
ing to about 700 men under General Wright, and a 
detachment of regulars of 280 men under Major Wool, 
the present Inspector General, supported by two pieces 
of Light Artillery, were pushed forward to check the 
right column, consisting of the Divisions of Major Ge- 
nerals Power and Robinson, which was to take the 
Beekmantown road ; and were instructed, hke Appling, 
to interpose every impediment in their power. Appling 
was directed to letire on the Lake road, as better suited 
to his arm, being more difficult than the other, on account 
of the lowness of the grounds and the thickness of the 
woods : besides, on this road a detachment of 200 men 
under Major Sproul of the 13th, supported also by two 



MACOMlS. 85 

field pieces, had been previously stationed at the bridge 
of Dead Creek, which force was to co-operate with 
Appling's riflemen in defending that pass. The posi- 
tion at this Creek was, from its natural advantages, 
strongly defensible. Aware of the fact. Major General 
Sir Thomas Brisbane, to avoid the pass, cut a road 
round it through the woods on the west, but the column 
on the Beekmantown road having advanced so much 
more rapidly than the other, it was found necessary to 
withdraw the force at the Creek, in order to secure its 
retreat. It so happened, however, that just as this 
party had retired about half a mile, the advance of the 
left column of the enemy under Colonel Sir William 
WiUiams had penetrated through the woods, and meet- 
ing Appling, the latter gave them a sharp fire from his 
riflemen, and retired agreeably to his instructions. The 
detachments sent out to oppose the right column were 
also obliged to retire, but not without having made a 
good impression. The militia, unaccustomed to regular 
discipline and service, hurried their march ; but the 
regulars under Wool fell back in good order, keeping 
up a fire from every favourable position, until they met 
with Appling and Sproul, when the whole retired, by 
alternate detachments, until they were forced across 
the bridge of the Saranac. 

Early in the morning of that day, Macomb advanced 

8 



86 MEMOIR OP 

with his Staff, on the Beekmantown road, to direct ope- 
rations on that route, and afterwards took his post at 
the junction of the roads leading into Plattsburgh, in 
order the better to conduct the movements of liis re- 
tiring corps. The gun-boats on the Lake were sta- 
tioned at the flats, so as to take the enemy in flank, as 
he moved along the Lake shore with his left column ; 
but the wind rising, and the enemy's pieces being soon 
brought to bear on them, they were constrained to re- 
sume their place in line of battle with the squadron ; 
not, however, without effecting considerable annoyance. 
The American troops having now retired behind the 
Saranac, the planks of the bridges were taken up, and 
so disposed as to shelter the detachments posted behind 
them. The enemy entered the town ; but, finding 
themselves too much exposed to the field pieces and 
heavy batteries, withdrew out of reach of our guns, 
leaving some light troops to skirmish at the head of 
the bridges and fords, while their Engineer and Staff 
officers mounted the roofs and balconies of the town, 
to reconnoitre our position. Being there discovered by 
our telescopes, hot shot was poured, like burning lava, 
upon the buildings, and soon dispossessed these gentle- 
men of their new observatories. It was an object of 
importance to keep them at the greatest possible dis- 
tance ; and our troops, being fairly driven into clqse 



MACOMB. 87 

quarters, were driven likewise to the necessity of re- 
doubling their efforts to strengthen the works, which 
were destined to be the last resort. Every exertion of 
the mind and body was put forth to amuse and de- 
ceive the enemy. The whole of our troops were pa- 
raded at each guard-mounting, to produce an impres- 
sion that the strength of the garrison was much greater 
than it really was. Every night some portion of the 
barracks, which had been constructed for Izard's army, 
was burnt, to enable any approach of the enemy's 
troops to be discovered on the glacis, should they, b}'' 
passing through the w^oods at night, escape the vigi- 
lance of our piquets and other guards. By the same 
means, an opportunity was afforded of marching our 
tjoops through the light, giving an appearance as if re- 
inforcements were being received from tlie opposite side 
of the Lake.. The weather for the most part was rainy. 
One third of our troops, notwithstanding, lined the pa- 
rapets at night, while the rest lay on their arms with- 
out covering. The enemy's camp described a segment 
of a circle, with a radius of about two miles from our 
forts ; their right resting on the Saranac ; and their left 
on the Lake, covered by a battery to keep off our gun- 
boats. From the 6th to the night of the 10th, the 
enemy were industriously engaged in planting their 
open and masked batteries, in preparing scaUng ladders, 



88 MEMOIR OF 

in reconnoisances, and in sallies. In one of their abor- 
tive attempts to pass the upper fords above the town, 
when about half of a formidable detachment had cross- 
ed over, and were forming again in line and column, 
with horse and foot, our light corps, regular and irregu- 
lar, dispersed among the fronting woods ; and, concealed 
behind the trees, set up a simultaneous shout and thun- 
dering huzzas, so that the enemy thought himself, as 
the event proved he was, caught in a ruse de guerre — 
became panic-stricken — broke into confusion — and re- 
crossed the ford in the utmost precipitancy — making 
fine game for the huntsmen in his rear. He w^as now 
said to be waiting only the arrival of his fleet, which 
was expected about the 10th or 11th. 

From the position which the enemy had taktu, and 
from his line of contravallation, there presented them- 
selves to Macomb's view several enterprises which, in 
his opinion, might be undertaken without imminent 
danger, and yet with eminent advantage. Among 
these was an attack which he had projected upon the 
enemy's Head Quarters, which were in the centre of 
their Hne — proposing to take, in the way, a battery then 
nearly completed, within 400 yards of Fort Brown, and 
in a direct line to Sir George. For this purpose he had 
prepared a brigade of rocketeers, with Congreve rock- 
ets, which the enemy believed to be in his own exclu- 



MACOMB. 89 

sive possession — and two hundred light troops under 
Major Sproul — to sally, in the dead of night, in a direct 
line to the point of attack — force the guards, in their 
way — bring on an action by pouring a fire of small 
arms upon the centre — and then discharge the rocket 
battery in their retreat. By this manosuvre, it was ex- 
pected that the enemy would get under arms — his se- 
veral corps march to the reUef of the centre — and, in 
the darkness, surprise, and confusion of the moment, 
bring on a general conflict till morning. In the mean 
time the American party would have retreated on our 
works, under the disguise of the Congreve rockets, and 
by the signal-lights previously arranged for their gui- 
dance. This plan Macomb conceived to be the more 
practicable, as the soldiers of the different British regi- 
ments were strangers to each other, some of them not 
even speaking the English language. But, on con- 
sulting with the principal officer of Engineers, who 
thought that the strength of the American force would 
not justify the risk of losing so many men, as would 
compose the attacking party, Macomb relinquished the 
design. In consequence, only fifty men were detailed 
under Captain M'Glassin, who, in the sortie, gallantly 
carried the battery near Fort Brown, spiked the guns, 
and demolished the works. 

While the enemy were sitting down before the Ame- 

8* 



90 MEMOIR OF 

rican works, these were put in as good a state of de- 
fence as time permitted, and indefatigable labour could 
effect. The batteries of the three principal forts, and of 
the redoubts, were served with signal vigour, science, 
and effect. That our artillery, in its several stations, 
did skilful and powerful execution, was testified by the 
General, in his orders of the day, and by the subse- 
quent acknowledgment of the enemy. 

Under the impression, that the enemy could not carry 
the works by assault, nor yet reduce them by siege un- 
der 10 or 12 days, and then only provided the attack 
were made on the South front, where they would have 
ground to move on, and to open trenches in a regular 
manner, Macomb felt an entire confidence that, before 
so many days could elapse, if the occasion should require, 
the country every where would rush to the rescue of 
his little band of American Spartans, at the straits 
of this modern Thermopolse : at all events, honour and 
patriotism spoke but one voice, and he obeyed it. 

The volunteer Green Mountain Boys, and the MiU- 
tia of New- York, continued to pour in. It was a great 
point of policy to employ, to the greatest advantage, 
these patriotic but inexperienced troops. The General 
took them to the magazines where he personally de- 
livered them arms and ammunition. He addressed 
them, thanking them for the spirit they had manifested 



MACOMB. 91 

by coming to his relief, when opposed by such power- 
ful hosts. He advised them not to think of forming 
into large parties ; but to choose their" leaders and act 
in small, separate bands ; to fall on the enemy at any 
point, and attack his piquets and out-posts, night and 
day, giving him no rest ; to harass him in his rear 
and flanks, pick up stragglers, and get every informa- 
tion of his designs ; never to oppose a regular attack, 
but to retire as the enemy advanced, and advance as 
he retired. He then informed them that provisions and 
ammunition would be deposited for them at certain 
points, to which they could resort when in want of a 
supply. He particularly requested them to keep away 
from the forts, but yet to close on the enemy, should 
he advance to the attack of the works ; and to lie along 
the river and in the woods to prevent his crossing at 
the upper fords. Among these volunteers was Gene- 
ral Strong, who held influence with his patriotic coun- 
trymen, and proved himself worthy of their reliance. 
On his introduction, Macomb gave him a short, but 
kind salutation, and, plucking an Evergreen that stood 
by, presented it to Strong, begging him to assume it, 
for himself and corps, as an emblem of their Green 
Mountains, and perennial valour. The directions 
given to the Volunteers and Militia, fortunately, were 
respectfully received, and faithfully complied with, 



92 MEMOIR OF 

Every day the light parties of Regulars, and Militia, 
and Volunteers, were more or less engaged in skirmish- 
es ; while the artillery was constantly and successfully 
playing upon the new works being erected by the ene- 
my, until the 11th. The day before, Macomb had been 
informed by his spies that the British Commander had 
determined on a general attack — that the storming 
parties were detailed, and 1200 ladders provided. From 
his situation and the nature of the troops which came 
to his assistance, Macomb was aware that he was sur- 
rounded by spies in the British interest, who took the 
garb of militiamen ; and from the manner in which he 
was watched, and his conversation listened to, by cer- 
tain suspicious fellows, he availed himself of their in- 
strumentaUty to deceive their masters, by letting them 
understand, as if he thought them militiamen and 
wished to encourage them, that General Izard's army 
was at hand, waiting only the crossing of the British 
army to move up and attack it, and that there were 
now more than 10,000 miUtia in the woods, and that 
double the number would join them by the next day. 
These fellows, at night, were seen to pass over the Sa- 
ranac into the enemy's camp, carrying, no doubt, the 
inspiring intelligence, with which Macomb had filled 
them. 
From the number of batteaux, which were in the 



MACOMB. 93 

(Quarter Master's Department at Plattsburgh, Macomb 
conceived the idea, in the event of the capture of our 
fleet, not only of retaking it, but also of capturing that 
of the enemy. He reasoned that, if the Americans 
practiced their usual precision of fire, however the de- 
cision of the battle might turn, the hostile squadron 
would be greatly crippled, and, after the action, w^ould 
be in such a state of confusion, fatigue, intoxication, 
negligence, and general disability, as to become an easy 
conquest. He, therefore, ordered the batteaux to be 
arranged under the banks of the Lake and prepared, 
in such a contingency, to receive 6 or 800 men, with 
which the General W'Ould embark and board the fleets. 
The actual situation of the squadron, at the close of the 
engagement, confirmed the feasibility of the project^ 
xln enterprise, like this, was worthy of the fearless soul 
of Macomb to conceive, and of his unconquered arm to 
execute. 

As another instance of the interest he took in our 
naval honour on the Lakes, scarcely second to that 
which he took in his own command, Macomb planted 
on Crab Island a battery of two twelve pounders, served 
by the invalids of the Hospital, under Surgeon Mann, 
to protect the left flank of our Squadron. r^.v;he attack, 
the British galleys, destined to turn that flank, were 
beaten off ; and a sloop of war, of ten guns, leading 



94 MEMOIR OP 

them, was driven on the rocks, and compelled to sur- 
render. 

Knowing that the meditated attack would certainly 
be made, if made at all, on the south front of the forti- 
fications, Macomb at night, after the departure of the 
spies, caused all the roads leading to the works to be 
planted with evergreens, such as pines which prevailed 
there ; and directed the fallen leaves to be strewed over 
the naked ground so as to disguise any appearance of 
a road. He at the same time caused other roads to be 
opened, all leading into an old road that ran to Salmon 
River. On this road, a field piece was stationed under 
Lieutenant Sumter, a gallant officer of the Light Artil- 
lery, with directions to await the coming of the enemy. 
The volunteers and militip- were advised to keep on the 
west side of the road, if the enemy should drive them 
from the banks of the river, and to maintain a constant 
fire, whether the enemy was near or not, — their main 
object being to lead him astray, confuse, and embarrass 
him. 

On the 11th, at break of day, a general movement 
was discovered in the enemy's camp, all the different 
corps being under arms. Soon afterward the British 
fleet hove in sight off Cumberland Head, fired a salute 
in passing, and at 8 o'clock, displayed the royal flag in 
Plattsburgh bay. The batteries on land and lake 



MACOMB 95 

Opened at the same instant ; and a general cannonade 
and bombardment were kept up, in the dread conflict 
of army with army, and fleet with fleet : 'twas a mag- 
nificent spectacle, a splendid drama, especially as the 
scene of action was laid in the interior, mid our inland 
oceans. The sky was filled with bombs and shells, 
rockets and balls, the lightning and thunder of human 
power — it seemed as if the elements of nature were 
convulsed. The British troops moved forward toward the 
American works, and made a demonstration before the 
bridges, with a view to amuse, while the assaulting 
columns should pass in what the enemy considered our 
rear, but which was actually our front, as the river 
protected us on the north side, which had thus far been 
the point exposed to their attacks. As was anticipated, 
the plan of the false roads completely deceived the 
assailing parties, and they marched five miles out of 
their way, until they met the field piece under Lieut. 
Sumter, who gave them an unexpected fire. Through 
their march, they were also handled very roughly by 
the volunteers and militia ; and, being fatigued after 
marching so far with their clumsey scaling-ladders 
made out of horse-racks picked up in their neighbour- 
hood, and involved in the mazes of the woods which 
seemed interminable and inextricable, and which now 
thronged with sharp shooters, they threw down their 



96 MEMOIR OP 

ladders, and precipitately retreated, leaving a handsome 
company of the British 76th, which formed the advance 
guard, to be cut up and captured, not an officer or man 
escaping. Mean while, the action on the Lake had 
been decided, it lasting only two hours ; and the firing 
between the armies closed at sunset* 

All was now calm and quiet — the sky was serene — ■ 
and the intermingled cry of the sentinels of the hostile 
armies, on the ramparts and along the hne, alone broke 
the portentous silence. It was just at the moment 
when the attack was expected — every man at his post 
anxiously awaiting the foe — when the rumbling of 
carriage- wheels upon the hard-beaten roads indicated a 
movement in the hostile camp. 

At this juncture, some deserters were brought in^ 
who declared that the Army of Sir George Provost was 
on the Retreat. It was impossible to believe such a 
statement — impossible to believe that he would retreat 
at all — 'but that he would retreat in the night, before a 
handful of men, and without making a full trial of his 
strength, was most of all incredible. The next morn- 
ing, however, brought confirmation of the fact. In- 
credulity yielded only to the evidence of the senses. 
Scattered equipage, broken carriages, abandoned bag- 
gage-wagons, deserted magazines, and stragghng plun- 
derers, alone, marked the field, where so lately waved; 



MACOMB. 97 

ill proud defiance, the ensigns of a thousand victories, the 
time-honoured banner of the House of Brunswick ! The 
wounded were left in hospital, in charge of a surgeon 
having a note from Sir George recommending them to 
the humanity of the conqueror. The light troops were 
sent in pursuit. Deserters came in by platoons ; and 
prisoners were made in all directions. But a violent 
storm now setting in induced the General to recall his 
troops. Thus ended the siege and attack of Platts- 
burgh, during which the loss of the Americans in kill- 
ed and wounded was too inconsiderable to be mention- 
ed. The Governor General of the Canadas, with 
16,000 veteran Itivijicibles of Wellington — with sol- 
diers who had conquered the conqueror of Europe, and 
won, in many an ensanguined field, the trophies of im- 
perishable fame — now abandoned the attempted con- 
quest and division of these] United States, by a sys- 
tematic co-operation of land and naval forces concerted 
in the cabinet councils of his Britannic Majesty ; — and 
retired into Canada, before 1500 regular Yankee troops 
and their voluntary comrades of the Mihtia ! 

As matter of instruction, and also of curiosity, it may 
be worth while to inquire into the cause of the phenome- 
non of this retreat. It could not be in our vast infe- 
riority of disciphne and numbers. It could not be in 
the mighty phalanx of the British forces. It could 

9 



98 MEMOIR OF 

not be in the capture of the fleet : for that should have 
but provoked them to avenge the injury, and merge 
the disgrace in the blaze of their own glory. What 
then was it ? It was the ascendant genius, the ex- 
haustless resources, sleepless vigilance, invincible forti- 
tude, the practiced skill, the matured science, of the 
American Commander. He employed the whole stra- 
tagie of war. He foiled them in all their incipient 
attempts. He lead them off from the point of attack 
by the ruse of the roads — involved them in the laby- 
rinth of woods swarming with marksmen — surprised 
them by ambush — cut them off by detachments — de- 
stroyed their batteries by sorties in the night— filled 
them with terror, through their own spies, at the ex- 
pectation of his strong reinforcements at hand — in- 
duced them to believe, by the repeated cheerings of the 
soldiers on the battlements, by his manner of mounting 
the guards, and by parading the troops through the 
nocturnal light of burning buildings, in the unreal 
strength of his garrisons — and taught them, by the ex- 
hibition of every faculty and resource which the science 
and art of war can know or practice ; by the daring spi- 
rit of his enterprise, indomitable energy, and successful 
hardihood, that American Republicans, in the cause of 
Freedom and their Country, are not to be cheaply con- 
quered ! 



MACOMB. 99 

General Macomb now dismissed the volunteers and 
militia, with his grateful acknowledgments of their 
services, in his own name and in that of the country 
and the government. They returned to their homes, 
with the feelings of men, citizens and patriots, con- 
scious of having done their duty in a sacred cause. 
They were welcomed by their families : the public 
prints applauded them : and the country, in every sec- 
tion of their residence, delighted to reward them with 
proofs of popular confidence. Their respective States 
were proud of their achievements : and a stimulus has 
: thus been proviHpf]^ w their example, for citizen soldiers 
to rally around the eagle-bearing Standard of their coun- 
try, should that signal ofhonour, in any future exigency, 
be again unfurled. The papers every where in the Uni- 
ted States teemed with merited eulogy of the Defence of 
Piattsburgh. The Legislatures of the several states pass- 
ed resolves of thanks to the officers and men ; and Gene- 
ral Macomb was noticed with especial commend ation^ 
particularly by his own State and the State of Vermont. 
The State of New- York complimented him with a su- 
perb sword, presented by Governor Tompkins ; and 
the city of New- York gave him its freedom in a gold 
box, presented by its Mayor De Witt Clinton ; it also 
requested him to sit for his portrait, to be placed in its 
gallery of distinguished patriots. Nor was the national 



100 MEMOIR OF 

legislature unmindful of the great debt of gratitude 
which the country owed him. Congress passed a vote 
expressive of their sense of his services, and directed 
that a gold medal should be struck, emblematical of 
his triumph at Plattsburgh, to be presented by the 
President of the United States. The President also 
conferred on Macomb the rank of Major General by 
Brevet, the commission bearing date on the day of the 
victory. 

Such was the anxiety manifested in England for the 
result of the gigantic enterprise thus defeated, that the 
gazettes of London had already proclaimed the suc- 
cessful invasion of New- York, and the capture of 
Plattsburgh. The British Commissioners at Ghent 
were looking, with sanguine confidence, for the official 
accounts of the progress of the British Arms, in Ameri- 
ca, expecting to stand in an attitude for dictating to 
our Envoys the conditions of peace. The London 
pubUcations having flattered their hopes, by announ- 
cing a false issue to the contest, they heightened their 
demands, insisting on our recognition of the Indian 
Tribes as independent nations, and urging other pre- 
texts and pretensions, to protract a pacification, until 
their receipt of authentic intelligence. What a disap- 
pointment ! How the cup of their hopes was dashed 
from the lip ! From their golden dreams, to wliat dis- 



MACOMB. 101 

astrous reality they awakened ! And the spell of this 
splendid enchantment broken, too, by a mere guard of 
Yankee Soldiers, and a hasty collection of patriotic 
yeomanry, who hold in fee the soil they till ! The 
affair of Plattsburgh, auspiciously for our honour and 
interests, closed the negociations at Ghent, and set the 
seal to the Treaty of Peace. Our General in Chief, 
Alexander Macomb, may, therefore, brightly wear, as 
he has nobly won, both the civic crown and the laurel 
wreath. 

General Macomb still remained in command of 
Plattsburgh and the adjacent country. The com- 
mencement of the war upon the Borders was attended 
with many vexatious occurrences, owing to the inimical 
feelings which party spirit had infused, even into the 
military corps employed, on either side, in defence of 
the frontiers. The Regiments, which had been long 
quartered in Canada, viewed the national hostihties, 
rather as a civil commotion, than a regular war. Their 
contiguity to the United States, the discussions which 
they daily read in our newspapers, the identity of lan- 
guage, and, in many instances, of feeling and opinion, 
lead them imperceptibly into the belief, that they them- 
selves were a party in our political contentions. They, 
therefore, with few exceptions, treated our officers, who 
fell into their hands, with no kind of respect ; and, 

9* 



102 MEMOIR OF 

when speaking of the Government, held language ill 
comporting with the character of men professing to be- 
long to a high-minded nation. But the progress, which 
our troops were daily making in disciphne and know- 
ledge of warfare, began to teach them better lessonso 
After the affair of Plattsburgh, they manifested a higher 
respect than they were wont to do. The troops, how- 
ever, who had served on the Continent of Europe under 
that Great Captain Wellington, had never evinced any 
such iUiberality. The war, after their arrival, took a 
more Tnilitaire complexion. To relieve the inhabitants 
residing near the line, marked by the 45th degree of 
north latitude, constituting the frontier intrusted to 
General Macomb, from the vexations and sufferings to 
which they were exposed under the former system pur- 
sued by the British Commanders, an arrangement was 
entered into, between him and General Sir Thomas 
Brisbane, to allow the inhabitants, on either side, an 
uninterrupted pursuit of their peaceful occupations, to 
cross the lines, and, in fact, to enjoy all the privileges 
of neutrals, so long as they remained non-combatant. 
An habitual courtesy was, also, practiced between the 
piquets and out-posts of the respective armies and in 
the intercourse of the officers, which calls up, for a 
moment, as a vision flits across the mind, our treasured 
recollections of the age of Chivalry and Romance, when 



Macomb. 103 

the ferocities of war were softened into shade ; and the 
bleeding wounds of a captive, slain by his foe, were 
quenched by the ministering hand of that foe, converted 
to a friend — and when the high deeds of heroism were 
prompted, ennobled, and endeared, by the kindliest 
sympathies, the softest affections, and all the charities 
of humanity, mingled with the death-conflicts of rival 
prowess, and the loftiest aspirations of ambition. 

On our lines, the barbarisms of shooting sentinels 
on post, and of individual affrays, a bad imitation of the 
Indian model of warfare, were now abolished. A little 
farnihar incident occurred, to show the spirit which pre- 
vailed of mutual forbearance, conciliation, and good 
offices. A servant of a British Adjutant deserted to 
our side, with his master's horse, clothes, and money. 
On being brought to Head Quarters and examined, he 
confessed that all the articles were stolen. General 
Macomb immediately ordered off Lieutenant Riley with 
a flag to restore them. While in the act of re-delivering 
the property at the British camp, an American deserter 
arrived, with General Macomb's charger, fresh stolen 
from his stables. The charger being recognised by 
Lieutenant Riley was promptly given up, the British 
being pleased with an opportunity, so singularly pre- 
sented, of reciprocating the courteous liberality extended 
to themselves. 



104 MEMOIR OP 

Having adjusted matters on the Champlain frontier, 
General Macomb was permitted to return to the city of 
New- York, and to visit his family connexions at Bel- 
ville in New- Jersey, On his way thither he was loaded 
with demonstrations of the public regard. But he had 
not long enjoyed the domestic circle, ere news was 
received of another attack on Plattsburgh being in pre- 
paration. He hastened back to his post. He had au- 
thority to call to his assistance all the disposable regu- 
lar troops, east of New- York and Lake Champlain, 
and also the militia of the States of New- York and 
Vermont. From experience. General Macomb had 
found it preferable to call out the militia on the spur of 
the occasion, than to embody them for any length of 
time previously, as they suffer, both in health and spi- 
rits, by long absence from their comfortable homes and 
usual occupations. He had observed that they, espe- 
cially the heads of families, were liable to a real malady, 
known to physicians by the name of nostalgia, which 
not only incapacitated them for service, but, in many 
cases, actually proved fatal. Beside these considerations, 
being ever mindful of the duty of public economy, 
he w^as unwilling to augment, unnecessarily, the ex- 
penses of the war. The winter was passed in expec- 
tation of a renewed attack. New detachments of regu- 
lar troops arrived. They were improved in discipline, 



MACOMB. 105 

and the works increased in strength. Tiie cold was 
excessive ; but the expectation of another visit from 
Sir George kept up the spirits of the troops, and made 
the winter pass cheerily off. On the receipt of the 
news in this country, that the preliminaries of Peace 
had been settled at Ghent, the President of the United 
►States ordered a suspension of hostilities. Macomb 
conveyed this inteUigence by a flag to Sir George ; and 
the war terminated. Some of the principal officers of 
the British Army, on their way home, anxious to see 
the works before which they had been so lately repulsed, 
visited the American General and the forts under his 
command. They expressed their surprise at the skill 
and strength of their construction. The efficiency of 
our Artillery, too, during the late seige, had induced a 
belief among them, that our cannon had the rifle bore ; 
and they obtained permission to inspect it, for the pur- 
pose of ascertaining the truth of their conjecture. 

In the month of March, 1815, an order came for dis- 
charging all the troops who had enlisted to serve during 
the war. Those enlisted for the term of 5 years, who 
had any considerable time yet to serve, were directed 
to be mustered, with a view of forming the contempla- 
ted peace establishment ; which was settled at 10.000 
men, retaining two Major Generals and four Briga- 
diers. Macomb was selected to be one of the Briga- 



106 MEMOIR OF 

diers, and stood at the head of that rank. Having dis- 
charged the troops who enUsted for the term of the war, 
and the inefficient, he repaired, on an order from the 
President, to the seat of Government, to assist ^as a 
member of a Board to organize the Peace estabUsh- 
ment, in conformity to the act of Congress. A more 
painful duty never devolved on Macomb. Full of 
sympathy for distress in all its varied shapes, and em- 
phatically the /Soldier^ s friend, for him it was a task 
indeed, to cast adrift, upon the sea of life, men who 
should have been grappled to the land, which their 
blood had enriched, and their arm protected. The act 
of Congress contemplated a small, but efficient force ; 
and, consequently, those honourable men, whom years, 
'jt umiiinties, or wounds, rendered incapable of further 
service, in active warfare, were to be excluded. The 
duty, however painful, was necessarily performed ; and 
the supernumerary officers were disbanded on the 17th 
of May, 1815. In the distribution of the commands, 
Macomb was assigned to the 3d military department in 
the Division of the North. He fixed his Head Quar- 
ters in the city of New- York, and organized the troops 
on that station. 

About this time the Department of War devolved on 
William H. Crawford. Of such a man, introduced by 
the course of our narrative, a passing notice will be 



MACOMB. 107 

deemed a pardonable digression. With the defective 
and deranged system of the Department, under all the 
embarrassments of a transition from war to peace, 
having new stations to designate, conflicting interests 
to reconcile, vast amounts of public stores and other 
property to preserve from waste and peculation, and to 
conform those habits, which the license of war had 
generated, to the strict rules of civil order and miUtary 
obedience — in fine, having before him a chaotic mass 
to mould and fashion — he spoke order out of the con- 
fusion, established economy, created efficiency, trans- 
fused his own spirit into the breast of the Army, dis- 
carded imbecility and profligacy, fostered talent, reward- 
ed meritorious conduct, preserved the harmony, and 
greatly promoted the respectability, of the service. He 
was not, however, sufficiently long in charge of this 
office, nor, under circumstances, to enable him entirely 
to arrange it anew, and stamp it with his signet. In 
his preceding and subsequent situations, in the Senate 
of the United States, in his foreign Embassy, and in 
the national Treasury, in his youth and in his man- 
liood, with Herculean strength, he hewed out, and 
raised up, the granite pillars of his fame, and planted 
them on the foundations, deep and broad, of national 
prosperity and honour. He was a democrat ; for he, 
like the Constitution of the United States, believed in 



108 MEMOIR OF 

the power, virtue, and intelligence of the people, or, in 
other words, that the common sense of the people, 
guided by their own true interests, rightly understood, 
would be a valid check upon usurpers and demagogues. 
The chief authority of the State was, alone, fitted to 
afford ample scope for the demonstration of his immense 
capabilities. He was like the intellectual giants of an- 
tiquity. Acknowledged by great men to be the great- 
est of their number, he was the leader, by unanimous 
assent and instinctive impulse, of the most powerful 
party in this country, for talent, character, and republi- 
can principles. Characterized by his simplicity, that 
truest test alike of genius and of real greatness, and 
sanctified by the purity of his motives, he always forgot 
himself, when he thought of his country ; and his 
country teas in all his thoughts. Self-created, and 
self-poised, he looked around him through all men and 
things : he held them in the balance of his unerring 
judgment, and determined, to a scruple, their weight 
and value. He was master of human nature.. His 
talents were administrative. His qualifications indi- 
cated that he was destined for the highest station. But 
heaven is veiled from us ; and though its decrees pierce 
through the veil, the motives of them lie buried in the 
obscuring splendour of Omniscience. Crawford ! Vene- 
rable, beloved name ! When thy sun shall set, it will 



MACOMB. 109 

retain its magnitude, leaving in its golden track a mel- 
lowedj but enduring radiance. 

From the unsettled state of the Canadian frontier on 
the Lakes, and the restlessness of the Indians, Secre- 
tary Crawford, selecting General Macomb, directed 
him to remove his Head (Quarters to Detroit, and take 
command of the 5th Military Department. Macomb's 
arrival at Detroit must have been one of the most flat- 
tering and gratifying incidents of his eventful life. 
After an absence of twenty-five years, a period of hard- 
ship and adventure, of toils and perils, he re-visits the 
place of his nativity, the scenes of his childhood. The 
boy, that was fondled in the soldier's arms, comes now 
among the companions of his youth a Major General 
of the triumphant American Army, covered with his 
country's and the world's applause, his breast deco- 
rated with the insignia of honour snatched at the can- 
non's mouth. The tales of fiction scarcely afford a 
more interesting plot or a happier denouement. On 
his return among them, he was received by all classes 
of the citizens with the strongest demonstrations of 
pleasure and delight — the French and American popu- 
lation vying with each other in respect for his character 
and services. 

The duties, which now devolved on him, were of an 
arduous nature. The surrender of this post, at the 

10 



110 . MEMOIR OF 

jcommencement of the war, threw open the whole 
Michigan Territory to the ravages of savage incursion. 
The ploughshare of desolation had passed over it — 
every farm laid waste — even the fences prostrated —not 
a fort or barrack remaining — the people suffering every 
distress : Detroit was. To resuscitate the town and 
^idjacent country, and to protect the inhabitants, were 
the tasks which he now assumed and executed. He 
forthwith made such a disposition of his troops as effect- 
ually to incapacitate the savages from any serious mo- 
lestation of the frontier settlers. He established the posts 
of Fort Gratiot; Chicago, Michilimackinac, Green Bay, 
and subsequently, those of Prairie du Chien, St. Peter'sj 
and St. Mary's— retaining at Detroit a sufficient force to 
preserve tranquiUity in its immediate vicinity. Having 
provided for defence, he turned his attention to improve- 
ments. He projected and constructed roads, erected 
barracks and arsenals, contributed his funds toward 
the building of public edifices, and lent every facility, 
as far as was compatible with his duty, in his public, 
and, as far as his means would authorize, in his pri- 
vate, capacity. The counsels, too, of experience and in- 
telligence, in a new and rising section of country, which 
he freely offered, were not vvithout their value. He had 
the satisfaction to see, during his command here, the 
Capital and the surrounding country spring up with 



MACOMB. Ill 

renovated vigour — the inhabitants returning — the popu- 
lation increasing — agriculture and commerce flourishing 
— and the embryo State advancing, with rapid strides, 
in improvements of every kind. That his own agency 
had been eminently conducive to this prosperity must 
liave been a reflexion that carried with it a proud and 
happy consciousness. The Territory, as a token of 
its gratitude, gave the name of Macomb to one of its 
counties. 

He continued in command of this station, until the 
reduction of the Army, in June, 1821, when he was 
placed at the Head of the Engineer Department, and 
ordered to the city of Washington. As soon as this 
new destination was known, a public meeting was called 
of all the citizens, at which the Governor of the Terri^ 
tory presided. They unanimously voted an Address, 
with a piece of plate bearing suitable emblems and de- 
vices, to be presented by Governor Cass, in the name 
of the citizens, in approbation of his character as a 
citizen and an officer : It expressed their sentiments of 
friendship, applause of his civic virtues, gratitude for his 
military administration, regret at his departure, and 
prayers for his future weal. The French Catholic 
Clergy, headed by the Bishop ; the Protestant Clergy ; 
the Ministers of the Gospel of all denominations ; the 
Governor ; the Heads of Departments ; the Judges of 
the Courts ; the citizens, generally ; and the inhabit- 



112 MEMOIR OF 

ants of the British side also ; all waited on him in a 
body, in testimony of their respect and kindest wishes 
for himself, his Lady, and Family, to whom they were 
all personally endeared. The poor French inhabitants 
particularly, on either side the strait, were not less anx- 
ious to exhibit their remembrance of the protection he 
had afforded them ; of the consideration he evinced for 
their peculiar situation ; of the respect paid to their re- 
ligion ; of his exertions to repair their wrongs, to adjust 
their rightful claims on the government for their ser- 
vices during tlie war, and to secure to them their titles 
to lands on which they had long been settled. Indeed, 
all classes, without distinction of politics or religion, of 
profession or occupation, from glowing breasts and elo- 
quent tongues, bade him adieu, with feelings which it 
was alike honourable in them to entertain, and in him 
to inspire. 

On the 8th of June, 1821. with a heart overflowing 
toward a people, among whom he had dwelt so long in 
the reciprocal exercise of the kindliest affections and good 
offices, he embarked in a steamboat, with his whole 
Family, consisting of his wife, nine young children? 
and his mother-in-law. He, also, took on board with 
him a barge, in which he had traversed the Lakes 
through their greatest extent. The party, after a plea- 
sant and diversified route by land and water, safely ar- 



MACOMB 



113 



rived at Georgetown, in the district of Columbia, the 
20th of the same month. Macomb immediately entered 
on his duties, as Chief Engineer. 

Mr. Calhoun was, now. Head of tlie War Depart- 
ment. On assuming its administration, at a single 
glance he penetrated its recesses, and discerned the de- 
fects of its organization ; while, with a logical mind, 
analytical and synthetical, he applied, with pervading 
energy, his peculiar powers of resolution and combina- 
tion, to the reformation of the system. Of intuitive 
perception ; keen in investigation ; inflexible in purpose ; 
with a penetration, like the lightning's shaft, piercing 
and rending ; with an eagle eye that can look, un- 
blenched, upon the sun ; with an eagle spirit that can 
wing its way on rays of light ; it might have been ex- 
pected that he would impart a fresh impetus to all ope- 
rations of which he took the direction. Accordingly, 
the whole department heaved and quickened with the 
life and intelligence he breathed into it. It is high 
praise, therefore, to Macomb, that, by the conduct of 
his own branch of that Department, he gained the 
marked and often repeated thanks of its Head. In the 
opinion of Mr. Calhoun, the Engineer Bureau was 
second, in importance, only to the Chief Command of 
the Army. The nature of the duties incumbent on it 
were so important, extensive, and complicated, that to 

10* 



114 MEMOIR OF 

insure success in its operations required great vigilance, 
unrelaxing industry, and a practical judgment, for the 
introduction of those principles of method, which 
would effectuate an unity and efficiency of action, a just 
distribution and faithful execution of official tasks, to- 
gether with economy and accountabiHty in public ex- 
penditure. This Bureau embraced, within the scope 
df its powers and duties, not only the fortifications to 
be constructed for the defence of our whole seaboard 
and inland frontiers ; the Military Academy ; the To- 
pographical explorations, surveys, and drawings : but^ 
also, Internal Improvements b}^ roads and canals, the 
deepening of Harbours, the creation of artificial Ports, 
and the removal of obstructions in the navigation of 
our great Rivers. From the confidence reposed in its 
plans and estimates for these noble objects, and from the 
general ability and integrity with which it was con- 
ducted by Macomb, Congress felt justified in placing 
the most liberal appropriations at its disposal. The 
character of the Engineer Department continued to 
grow in the public estimation, until it became one of 
the most important and useful establishments under the 
Government. The system of operation was so well 
methodized and defined, and the accountability so se- 
cured, that, during Macomb's administration of it, in- 
cluding a period of seven years, out of more than six 



MACOMB. 115 

millions of dollars appropriated to the objects committed 
to his charge, not one cent was unaccounted for or lost 
to the people of the United States ! This fact, alone, 
speaks volumes. It is superfluous to say, that such 
conduct could not fail to receive the high approbation 
as well of the Head of the War Department and of the 
Chief Executive, as of the Congress and the Nation. 

In the first year of his residence in Georgetown, by 
a severe dispensation of Providence, he was bereaved 
of his amiable and excellent Consort, who, in giving 
birth to a daughter, fell a victim to the causualities of 
an accouchement. She had been the happy mother of 
twelve children, of whom three sons and six daughters 
still live for their father. Ardent in her fidelity, to ac- 
company her husband, she encountered the perils of 
climate, in the North and in the South, and of travel 
by land, and sea, and lake. She dared the hazards of 
war, in camp and garrison ; and found a shield from 
all dangers and sorrows in her husband's arms. She 
was endowed with an elegant mind, and possessed 
accomplished manners. Whom her beauty captivated, 
her inteUigence enchained. She adorned the polished 
circles in which she moved ; and, among a numerous 
acquaintance, had the rare felicity to acquire many true 
and affectionate friends. Her favourite province was 
round the domestic hearth, where she presided, mid 



116 MEMOIR OF 

every endearment, with the household gods of hospi- 
tahty, friendship, and love. With a happy tact, she 
successfully exercised her talent to render her husband's 
home the abode of the social pleasures and affections, 
and a delightful resort for the stranger guest, the ac- 
quaintance, and the friend. 

On her decease, the General sent for his aged father 
and mother, then residing in New- York, and who had 
been reduced from affluence to poverty. He received 
them under his own roof ; and subsequently enjoyed 
the satisfaction, which none but a grateful son can ap- 
preciate, of discharging in some degree those obliga- 
tions, which can never be entirely cancelled, of filial 
piety, by placing them in a situation of comfortable 
competency. 

The events of the late war with Great Britain, and 
his own observation and experience, had turned the at- 
tention of Macomb, strongly, to the subject of our 
Mihtia. In a republic, this must ever be the right arm 
of its defence — the main national reliance. When the 
people reluct at the necessary expense of time and toil 
to preserve themselves in a state, though necessarily 
imperfect, yet still a state of mihtary organization and 
discipline, the entire Government, for all purposes of 
national independence, might as well be disbanded at 
once : we shall have become a nation of Sybarites, already 



MACOMB. 117 

conquered by our own imbecility : we shall be sold by 
contract to the highest bidder ; and an European de- 
tachment be sent over to enforce the terms of sale and 
take possession, unless anticipated by domestic merce- 
nary troops. Corruption, when luxury has dissolved a 
people in effeminacy, is the euthanasia of a republic ; 
but even this pitiful privilege cannot be our's : for the 
country is yet too young to be corrupt, though it is old 
enough, should the phenomenon of an unarmed nation 
exist in our instance, to die of debility. There is no 
succedaneum for a militia, an efficient militia. The 
only substitute is anarchy, or despotism. To prove the 
practicability of such a militia, and to point out the best 
methods of accomplishing so vitally important an ob- 
ject, Macomb composed a most able and elaborate me- 
moir, filled with the results of study, sagacity, and ex- 
perience, — which has been published among the docu- 
ments of Congress. His plan proposes to render the 
x\rmy. Military Academy, and Militia, harmoniously 
co-operative — to infuse the spirit, tactics, and science, of 
the Army and Academy, to a certain extent, into the 
body of the Militia ; yet without detracting from the 
entirety of the Army, or incurring a great national ex- 
penditure. Some such measure would be economy as 
well as efficiency in war, and safety in peace. It is 
patriotism. It is national existence, 



lis MEMOIR OF 

The science of war has not been Macomb's only 
study. He delighted in agriculture. He made many 
practical experiments on implements of husbandry, and 
especially tried the properties of the plough, on which 
subject he made a Report, while in the Engineer De- 
partment. Among his contributions to agricultural 
works, was an Essay, published in the American 
Farmer, accompanied with plans and drawings, illus- 
trative of the art of building with the composition of 
Tapia. The varied productions of his pen, his general 
orders, official reports, agricultural communications, 
and miscellaneous correspondence, bear the impress of 
an active, ingenious, strong, and scientific mind. 
Though, in the pressure of business, his pen may 
sometimes be hasty, yet all his papers are substantially 
well written, and many of them with surpassing felici- 
ty, which have justly obtained marked public encomium. 

In the month of May, 1826, General Macomb mar- 
ried Mrs. Harriet Balch Wilson, a widow lady, daugh- 
ter of the Reverend Doctor Balch, Pastor of the Pres- 
byterian Church in Georgetown, in the District of Co- 
lumbia, Respect for the sensitive delicacy of her feel- 
ings forbids, while living, the eulogy she richly merits ; 
and distant be the day when urn or stone shall speak 
of her ! 

On the death of Major General Brown, General in 



MACOMB. 119 

Chief of the Army, a question arose, as to his successor. 
Different views were entertained, by the various com- 
petitors for the station, in regard to their respective 
claims and pretensions. Among the higher officers of 
the army, different constructions were given to the rules 
of relative rank — some claiming precedence from 
commissions in the line, others from brevets conferred 
for gallant and meretorious actions. The unsettled 
state, in which this question of rank had been left by 
the Government since the war, might well be expected 
to prove an apple of discord ; for honour, power, and 
emolument, were in the issue. The Executive viewed 
the appointment to the chief command of the Army, 
as a matter of free selection, even beyond the pale of 
the army. It was thought that this Hberty on the part 
of the Government was approved by principles of pub- 
lic policy, and not interdicted by any provision of the 
law. Macomb, reluctant to enter the arena of conten- 
tion for rank and command in time of peace, was as- 
siduously engaged in his duties of Chief Engineer. 
Yet, in justice to himself, he conceived it a duty to lay 
before the President, a simple statement of his own 
claims and pretension^!, founded on long and faithful 
services, on seniority in his rank of Brigadier, and on 
the faith of Government which had been formerly 
pledged to him by the Executive, that his right of pro- 



120 mkjMoir of 

motion should not be infringed by his arrangement to 
the Engineer Department. From the position which 
Macomb occupied, as Head of that Department, he had 
not, since he quitted his command on tlie Canadian 
frontier, been before the pubUc eye, in the capacity of a 
military commander ; but was rather regarded as a la- 
bourer for the public benefit in the occupations of peace — 
in preparing the country for a state of war — in fortifying 
our seaboard — in superintending the educaticn of the 
adopted sons of the republic at the Military Academy— 
in facilitating intercourse between the several States, by 
good roads and canals — in improving the navigation of 
our principal rivers — in a word, in devoting his whole 
mind and time to strengthen the union, to render the na- 
tion prosperous in peace, and in war invincible. The Pre- 
sident, after weighing the various titles to the vacated 
post, decided in favour of Macomb, and nominated him 
accordingly to the Senate. That august body con- 
firmed the nomination by a great majority ; and Alex- 
ander Macomb became General in Chief of the Ameri- 
can Army. Disputes of precedence, it is to be hoped, 
will no more disturb the harmony of the service. Our 
present Chief Magistrate, with characteristic prompti- 
tude, as soon as the question was presented to his view, 
confirmed the decision of the learned Adams, and de- 
stroyed every germ of future contention. Highly ho- 



MACOMB. 121 

iiourable to Macomb is such a testimony from him. whose 
claim to the title of The Great Captain of the Age 
has been vindicated by the crowning victory of New- 
Orleans, when the unanimous acclaim of a grateful 
nation awarded him the verdant palm, which envy 
cannot blanch, nor detraction tear away. Years will feed 
its verdure, until the name of Orleans be erased from 
the historic tablet, and the Father of Rivers cease to flow. 
While Major General Macomb has resided at the 
seat of the National Government, in the command of 
the Army, it is not too much to say, that, by his con- 
ciliatory deportment, by his exemplary morals, by his 
tact and talent, and energetic discharge of his functions, 
by his familiar acquaintance with all the details of ser- 
vice and with the duties of every post and corps, he 
has raised yet higher the reputation of the Army, dif- 
fused still more widely a spirit of emulation, promoted 
concord, and increased the efficiency of every arm. 
Fortunately, too, he has been favoured with the co- 
operation of able auxiliaries in his military adminis- 
tration. It is the pecuharit}^ of great men to at- 
tach men, of similar character, to their person or ser- 
vice. If a chief be austere of disposition, repulsive of 
manners, degraded by ignorance, or debased by vice, 
those whose souls are of a lofty mould fly to distant 
stations — they instinctively shun contact with one 

10 



122 MEMOIR OF 

whom power cannot dignify, nor virtue adorn^ nor 
rank elevate ; but around him w ho, by mind, manners^ 
and disposition, as well as by official authority, can 
operate, as a centre of attraction, a focus of intelligence, 
kindred spirits love to cluster. Macomb is surrounded 
by a military cabinet of distinguished ability — a Staff 
which would honour any European service. Of some 
of these individuals, the writer may be permitted to 
speak from personal knowledge. 

Adjutant General Jones, formerly a Captain in 
Macomb's Artillery, is, as his present title imports, the 
immediate representative of his General in Chief — the 
Head of the General Staff. He is '•' every inch" a sol- 
dier. Like the war-horse, he loves the music of war ; 
and is most delighted, when careering on the battle- 
field, winning, as he has often won, the medals of va- 
lour, from the vanquished prowess of the foe, and the 
applauding gratitude of his country. He is now, in 
Peace, assiduously employing all his powers of mind 
and body in the comprehensive duties of his Bureau, 
which embrace, at the same time, the minutest detail 
and the entire economy of the Army — honouring, as 
he is honoured by, the Profession he serves. 

At the Head of the Ordnance Department stands 
Colonel Bomford — an original genius and a scientific 
scholar, in the broadest and highest import of those 



MACOMB. 123 

terms — devoting, with patriotic disinterestedness, those 
talents and that science to the mihtary service, which 
he is bound, by even a higher duty, to dedicate to the 
service of mankind : He is the rare ornament of an 
tcge — at once profound and practical — uniting, to almost 
juvenile simplicity of manners, the maturest wisdom of 
philosophy. , 

Over the (Quarter Master General's Department pre- 
sides General Jesup, whose life is an unbroken series 
of heroic and successful exertions in war and peace. 
After disbursing millions of the public treasure for works 
of national defence, he is probably as poor, and certainly 
as purC; as Curius ; yet all his personal virtues and 
pre-eminent public services are unfortunately obscured 
by a pervading fault, wliich his enemies, if there be 
such, would call reserve, but which his friends denomi- 
nate modesty. He would not lift his finger or wink his 
eye, to secure the brightest blazonry to his merits : He 
goes to no office of heraldry for his escutcheon : He 
asks BO coronet for his coat-of-arms : He has acted 
for his country, and before his country ; and, if inter- 
rogated, might meekh^, but with a noble pride, point 
to that country's archives. 

In reviewing this biographical sketch of Major Ge- 
neral Macomb, it is singular and gratifying to see him 
mounting, in regular progression, from the lowest to 



124 MEMOIR OF 

the highest point of his Profession — no halting — no re- 
trogradation — his march ever forward on an ascending 
plane. During an uninterrupted service for a period of 
more than thirty-three years, in every variety of station, 
employment, and circumstance, surrounded too by offi- 
cers who were straining in the same race of competition, 
the most generous natures sometimes forgetting the spi- 
rit of the soldier in the natural emotions of jealousy, 
that Macomb should have escaped a single arrest or 
serious embarrasment, is of itself a pecuhar fortune. 
We behold him, while yet a boy, the protege of Ha- 
milton, on his recommendation commissioned by Wash- 
ington, a Cornet of Dragoons — we view him, w^hile 
still a youth, the associate and friend as well as pupil 
of North and Williams, and Davie and Pinckney — we 
see him attracting the attention and winning the ap- 
plause of Jefferson, enjoying the confidence and sup- 
port of every successive President and Secretary of 
War, and especially honoured by the friendship of 
such men as Armstrong, Craw^ford, and Calhoun, 
who, however contrariant in their creeds and cha- 
racters, must be acknowledged to possess the facult}^ 
of discrimination. And we now contemplate him, 
after so long a tour of faithful, conspicuous, and suc- 
cessful services, at the Head of the Army of the Ameri- 
can Republic ! 

There is a novelty about the scenes and incidents 



MACOMB. 125 

of Macomb's life that grapples attention, and carries 
the reader along with them. To impart to them their 
true charm, to invest them with a halo of romantic re- 
splendence, throw them, in imagination, one thousand 
3^ears back — then say, as the truth of his biography 
will warrant us in saying, that a stripling of the wilder- 
ness (for at the time of Macomb's birth, Detroit [was a 
part of our western wilds,) emerging from the forests, 
and passing victoriously, for many years, through ap- 
pointed trials and labours of no ordinary occurrence, 
magnitude, and difhculty, rushed forward, and, not by 
the mere -exertion of the brute force of an overwhelming 
army, but by the display of the loftiest virtues and 
controlling powers, and by the united voices of his coun- 
trymen, seated himself, amid illustrious competitors, 
in the chief command of the mihtary forces of his 
country ! This is the point of view in which Time 
will place the picture of Macomb : This is the light in 
which Posterity will look back upon it. What, in com- 
parison, are the ferocious exploits of the boasted demi- 
gods of antiquity, which excite our school-boy wonder 
and admiration ? The wars they waged on the side 
of cruelty and violence, oppression and despotism, Ma- 
comb waged on the side of virtue and humanity, of 
liberty and law, his country's soil, and his country's 
institutions. 

11* 



126 MEMOIR OF 

The traits of General Macomb's military character 
are sufficiently developed and illustrated by his profes- 
sional career. Ahnost cradled in the camp — with his 
maturer years ripened in field and fortress — familiar 
with the details of service — instructed in the manoeuvres 
of battle — competent to the comprehensive combinations 
of a campaign — master of all the enginery of war — 
with tried valour and experienced talent — and crowned 
with success in the most signal exploits — he may well 
be esteemed an ornament of his profession, not more 
elevated by rank than merit ; but rather as one whose 
merit elevates his rank, and confers dignity on office. 
A distinctive feature of his military character is the 
respectful disposition manifested by him, wherever sta- 
tioned, to the civil administration. No functionary or 
citizen can ever have complained that Macomb infracted 
his rights, or impaired his interests ; or indeed that he 
failed to exert his every faculty for the promotion of the 
general weal and individual happiness, for the support 
of law, defence of justice, and protection of innocence 
In our country the sword is as much the emblem of 
justice, as the weapon of defence ; and, while the 
soldier equally participates in the benefits of the Law, 
he also shares equally in the disastrous effects of its 
prostration. 

In his person, General Macomb is above the ordinary 



MACOMB. 127 

height, being five feet, nine and a half inches — finely 
proportioned — with a round swelling chest — having a 
very pleasant, and yet dignified presence. His face has 
the oval contour — with a lofty forehead — a mild blue 
eye, radiating with mind and benevolence — and a mouth 
and chin indicative of great decision and firmness. 
The fault of his countenance is an air of youthfulness, 
which, should he live, he will probably rectify ! Often, 
on an introduction to strangers, he has been asked, if 
he was the tSon of the old General. He is alert in his 
motions, and buoyant in his spirits which are uniform- 
ly in a genial flow. The secret of this fine health lies 
in an originally good constitution, confirmed by early 
toil, fatigue, and hardy exercise ; and since preserved 
by a temperance, which never admits the use of alco- 
holic stimulus. 

The manaers of Macomb, entirely free and natural, 
are yet elegant and polished, as might be expected of 
a soldier bred in courts and camps ; but they are, also, 
in a pecuHar manner, ingratiating. You feel, from the 
impression they make on you, the goodness of his heart ; 
and, when you catch his countenance, you find the 
impression confirmed. His conversation, too, though 
marked with his characteristic good sense and sound 
learning, is, hke his manners, full of vivacity and fire. 
It will sometimes burst out into bold, original concep- 



128 MEMOIR OP 

lions, suggested at the moment, and strongly presented ; 
but it generally flows on, like a clear, sparkling stream 
— full of wit, and humour, and an inexhaustible fund 
of anecdote. 

In both the manners and conversation of Macomb 
the maternal blood seems to predominate ; and yet, to 
hit the true composition of his character, with the ex- 
ternal animation and literary penchant of the French 
model, should be blended and softened a certain arden- 
cy of temperament, a cordial enthusiasm, of the Irish. 
The dignity which Macomb possesses, is in substanc^, 
not in form. That artificial dignity which stands upon 
stilts, which depends upon staid looks, formalities, and 
a cold, haughty reserve, he whistles to the winds ; or 
gives it, as crutches are given, to the feeble. For him- 
self, he fears no exposure — is not afraid to be known — 
relies upon himself — is as willing to meet the rencount- 
ter of minds, as of arms — and feels no necessity of en- 
sconcing behind the palisades and entrenchments of eti- 
quette. Advantage might, sometimes, be taken of this 
freedom and openness, were it not for the natural 
guards of his shrewdness and penetration of character. 
Superficial judges, who think gravity (notwithstand- 
ing it is proverbially a cover-fool) synonymous with 
weight of character and solidity of judgment, draw un- 
favourable conclusions, as to his stability ; because they 



MACOMB. 129 

cannot understand the depth of his reasoning, nor per- 
ceive the brilhancy of his wit, though they can see, 
with their bodily eyes, that he is cheerful and sprightly. 

As a man, he is not less amiable and estimable, than, 
as a public officer, illustrious. The private and social 
relations of life are hallowed in his example. In the 
various capacities of husband and son, father, friend, 
and citizen, he practically exhibits the virtues which 
adorn them. With the kindest sympathy, he mingles 
in the sorrow^s of the afflicted ; or, with cordial congra- 
tulation, rejoices with the fortunate and happy. 

Clear and quick in his perceptions — abundant in re- 
sources — fertile and ingenious in speculation — prompt, 
bold, persevering, and powerful in action — with an he- 
roic daring which danger but stimulates, sustained by 
a constancy of nerve and will which obstacles but con- 
firm — who, in a trying exigency of our national ex- 
istence, fearlessly assumed a most perilous responsibility, 
and, under Providence, by the exertion of transcendant 
capacity, saved his country from the devastation of pro- 
tracted war — with a philanthropy which knows no per- 
sonal enemy, and deserves none — with a generosity 
hmited only by his means— with an humanity alike con- 
spicuous on the battle-plain when victory is won, and 
in the circles of private life— with a proud frankness 
which wears no disguise, and spurns the meanness of 



130 MEMOIR, &C. 

dissimulation — and, — a pre-eminent praise, — ardent 
and faithful in his friendships — our respect and love, 
admiration and gratitude, must ever attach to the cha- 
racter of ALEXANDER MACOMB. 



THE END. 



At the request of the Publishers, the Author has it in contempla- 
tion soon to issue an octavo edition, in which the principal passages 
of this biography will be illustrated by documents, either interwoven 
in the text, or annexed as an appendix — together with detailed de- 
scriptions of actions merely glanced at in this edition, 



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llian Wilt iias done in the case of Henry. l\ is indeed, a W'onder that a splendid 
edition of this work lias never before been presented to the American public, as 
all Ihc former editions have made but an indiflerent a|)peatance. Thisadmirable 
volume sJiould be found in every American Library. — Badger's Messenger. 

Of the merits of this work, which ranks among the American classics, it is su- 
perfluous to speak. Few American Biographies, if any, have been more popu- 
lar, and it deserves the popularity it has attained as well on account of its literary 
merits, as for tiie interesting character of the illustrious individual whose fame it 
records. — Commercial Advertiser. 

MEMOIRS of the LIFE and MINISTRY of the Rev. JOHN 
SUMMERFIELD, A. M., late a preacher in connexion with the 
Methodist Episcopal Churcli in America. By John Holland. 
AVith an introdtietory Letter, by Jamks MoxtgomEry. 

A fervent, tearless, self-sacrificing preacher, the delight of wondering, weeping 
and admiring audiences, wherever he \\QM\.~Moni gomcry. 

1 have leadthe life of (he Rev. John Sninmorfield'with great satisfaction. It is 
a very interesting record, and I trust will promote the interests of our common 
Christianity, of which Mr. S. was so bright an ornament; and so happy an exam- 
ple of the union of zeal with Catholicism and of talents with humility. -^/"j-ci/tssor 
Silliman of Yale. College. 

L>fe.of .Sitmwifv/itZrf.— We have been reading with much satisfaction the Me- 
moirs of this popular and devoted young minister. The book exhibits a specimen 
of Biograpliy as hcautifnl and finished as simplicity, purity, and force of style, 
united to richness andehastenessof ornament, can well make it. and the materials 



3 

ar? intorostlH^ and iustracflve - ftiid wlnl is no sui.ill pi;vtee, it te laudably purged 
ut'liiirotiy ;iiu( B(.'ctanaiiism.--/JKfc/j Rcfomud Mao-aiine. 

This is a wmk olrarecxcelltincc. We tspeak iioniow ofils lilctary merit. V\'e 
*\w\\k of a liij^lior quality. It is t!ie simph' and tnncliinp .'^tiiry of one who, for h 
few hiief yeais, livod and labored and sullVrnd aniong us in the c.-unii; of (Mirisi, 
and wa< tint, for (iod took him. It is oni; of Ihoso fmv books which Wf read with 
)iearts full of ihankfulness to God— and we have received iiinch advantage and 
nincii pleasure from this book, and recommond it to onr readers.— T/ieoZo^jca/ lie- 
pi rtonj. 

Tlie volume will be sought after with avidity, and read by thoufands with plea- 
sure, although they inav not have seen him ; but to thope who knew him an he liv- 
ed, and read how he died, it will bo a treasure with whirh Ihoy will not readily 
part. — .Mercantile jidvcrtisrr. 

VILLAGE SERMONS ; One Hundred and One Plain and Short 
Discourses, on the principle doctrine.^ of the Gospel ; intended for 
the use of fatnilies, Sunday Schools, or companies assembled for re- 
ligious instruction, in country villages, by Georgk Biuujrr. To 
which is added, to each sermon, a short prayer, with some general 
prayers for families, schools, Sec. 1 vol. 8vo. 

" Come, let us go forth into the field ; let ns lodge in the villages." 

Solomon. 
This work is got up in the very best style, as regards the quality 
of the paper, the correctness and beauty of the printing, or the 
neatness and durability of the binding. As the work is so gene- 
rally know'n, it is unnecessary to say any thing in its commenda- 
tion. 

TtlE COURSE OP TIME, a Poem, by Robert Pollok, A.M., 
w'ith a memoir of the Author, an introductory notice, a copious in- 
dex, and an anal3^sis prefixed to each book, by N. W. Fi«k, of Am- 
herst College. 1 vol. 18mo. — Price 37^ cts. 

The Memoir of the Author, Introductory .Notice, Index, and Analysis, prepared 
for tills work by Mr. Fisk, have considerably enhanced thetalueof the book, and 
rendered this edition the mo.st popidar of any in the market. 

Persons wishinji to procure this edition will please to inquire for Pollok's 
Course of Time with Fish's improvements. It can be obtained at almost any Iwok 
store in the United States. 

THE HISTORY OF SANFORD AND MERTON, by Tho- 
mas Day, Esq. Revised by the Author of American Populor Les- 
sons. Handsomely printed on fine paper, and illustrated with three 
wood engravings. I vol. 18mo. 

"Tlie history of Sanfonl and Merlon, written fifty years ago, is at thi.s moment 
the most intevestin;:; and edifying of children's books; highly entertaining, exhibit 
ing the best examples, inculcating a virtuous conduct, the right use of reason, Just 
moral principles and useful truth in regard to physical natuie, all in the most in 
telligible and attractive manner. " 

ZION SONGSTER; a Collection of Hymns and Spiritual Songs, 
generally sung at Camp and Prayer Meetini^s, and in revivals of 
religion. Compiled by Peter D. Mvers; with a copperplate fron- 
tispiece, and -vignette titlepage. — 37 1-3 cents. 

" This work comprise.? some of the best Hymns of IJishop Ileber, Montaomeiy, 
mid other modern poets, as well as all tlnwe in general use at ("amp Meetings, &e. 
It is believed lo be also le.-sobjectionableon (he ground of dogji-rel, than most oth- 
ers published for the siime purposes. " Pwnfod cm fine paper and neatly bomid. 

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, Constitution 
of the United States, and Washington's Farewell Address to the 
Peonle of tlic United States: in I vol. I8mo.— price Ci"3 cents. 



GOLDEN TREASURY; consisting of select texts of the Bible, 
with Practical Observations, in pro^e and verse, for every day in 
the year. By C. H. V. Bogatsky. Together with a few forms 
of prayer, for private use. 388 pp. 18mo. — price 50 cents. 

THE BIBLE STORY BOOK; taken from the Old and New 

Testaments; for the use of Children. From the English edition. 
Corrected and enlarged by the Author of American Popular Les- 
sons. In two volumes. The first volume, containing narratives 
from the Old Testament, is illustrated by 40 beautiful wood cuts, 
and the second volume, (on the New Testament,) by 32 wood cuts. 

"The Bible Story Book wus originally an English pnbliration. It contains 
hrifif and intelligible narrativcfi of facts related in the Old and New Testaments. 
'J'hese narratives are intermixed with moral and religious applications, such as all 
children can understand, and such .is can offend no religious denomination. " 

INTRODUCTION TO POPULAR LESSONS ; by the Author 
of American Popular Lessons, with numerous cuts ; designed as a 
reading book for Young Children. — price 25 cents. 

This little book was prepared e.vpressly for the use of small children just learn- 
ing to read, and is intended as a first reading book in schools. With a view to 
this it is printed on a very large and handsome type, and made interesting to the 
child, as well by its simplicity of style, as its being filled with cuts or pictures. It 
has been extensively introduced into schools, and is found to give perfect satisfac 
lion. 

In teaching young children to rcail, T have felt the want of a popular book that 
should teach them to thinh also. Until teachers or parents examine all the ele- 
mentary books used by their pupils, until they have the ability to distinguish 
which arc the best, and the independence to use those which are adapted to un- 
practised aiid unfurnished minds, it will be ol small use to write good school 
books ; and until better ones than many of those in present fashion shall be used, 
half the labor of teaching will be frustrated, except so far as it enriches schoolmas- 
lerfj. — Extract from the Jlutlwr^s Preface. 

JACOBS' LATIN READER; by Frederick Jacobs, and Fre- 
DERicif WiLLiAAi DoRiNG : with Notcs and Illustrations, partly 
translated from the German, and partly drawn from other sources. 
By John D. Ogilby, Principal of the Grammar School of Colum- 
bia College, New- York. 1 vol. 12mo. . 

THE SYMBOLICAL PRIMER, or CLASS BOOK, No. 1. By 
E. IIazen. 

This Primer consists of two parts. Part thr First is composed of 30 pages, and 
contains 41>2 cuts, or pictures, with words expressing the names of the objects 
which they represent directly under them. 

Part the Second, is composed of 72 liages, and contains the cuts which are in 
Part the First, arranged in the same order, with explanations, showing thi! nature 
and use of the objects which they represent. Tiie explanations are short and are 
drsigned to answer the purposes both of Keading and Spelling Lessons. Experi- 
ence has proved that words combineii in sentences, answer a much belter pui pose 
for Spellhig Lessons than when arranged in coUnuns. Tlie Symbolical Primer, 
however, is not designed merely to teach children to spell and read, but also to 
communicate information, adapted to the young mind. If parents and teachers 
will give iho latter object the w<;ight which it deserves, they will never object to 

it on the ground that it contains loo many jtictures and no colunms for spelling 

The fact is, tlnn-c is nothing in columns of words, arranged for spelling lessons, 
calculated to excite the allcntion or to afford the least instruction, and conseqneni 
ly children cannot be made to pay nu\ch alb-ntion to them. Besides the orthogra- 
phy of words thus abstractly presented, cannol be rcimembered without a great 
d«nl of dirticidty, inasmuch as Ihere is noihing with which the words can be ast<o- 
ciated ti> assist the memory. 



" THE SPELLER an<l DEFINER, or CLASS HOOK, No. 2," 
by the same Aullior, is dosigned, aa Iheiiaim; imports, to answer ilu.' |)iir|ios<-s oCa 
Spelling Rook ami an Expositor or Dictionary. It is compotu'ii ol' 'J15 pai^ps, ami 
contains about 8000 words, which nro exphuned and pronounced according to the 
best authorities. 

As a book to lie conunitted to memory, it answers a much belter purpose tlian a 
school dictionary, as it contains a less ninnber of words, and such only as are in 
conmion use. The words being classed also according to their parts of spencli, 
and arranged under different heads, according to the number of letters or syllables 
of which they are composed, can be conunitted to memory in less tlian half the 
time which is consumed in committing the same number, arranged on the con\inou 
plan. The time usually devoted to a Spelling Book, will be abundantly sufficient 
to become well acquainted with " The Syinbolical Primer^'''' and " The Speller avd 
Uefmcr," so that the knowledge of themeaningof the words and other information 
which may be obtained, will be clear gain to the pupil. 

ENGLISH GRAMMAR, in Familiar Lectures, accompanied by 
a Compendium ; embracing a new systematic order of Parsing, a 
new system of punctuation, Exercises in False Syntax, and a sys- 
tem of Philosophical Grammar, in notes : to which are added, an 
Appendix, and a Key to the Exercises. Designed for the use of 
Schools and Private Learners. By Samuel Kirkham. 

" P. Kirkham, Esq. — 1 have examined your Grammar with attention, and with 
a particular view to benefit the institution under my charge. I am fully satisfied 
that it is the licit, form in which Murray's principles have been given to the pub- 
lic. The lectures arc ample, and given in so familiar and easy language, as to be 
readily understood, even by a tiji-o in grammar. 

" I ieel it due to say, that I commenced the examination of your work, under a 
strong prejudice, arramst it, in consequence of the numerous 'improved systems' 
with which the ixiidic has been inundated of late, most of which are by no means 
improvenientson Murray, but the productions of individuals whom a " liltlegram' 
war has rendered graunnatically insane.'' My convictions, therefore, are the re- 
sult of inrestigotion. 

" I wish you, Sir, success in your publication. 

" Respectfully, 

"EBER WH EATON. 
Pr. of Mechanic's Society School. " 

Upwards of .*/.i: huvdrrd other recommendations have been presented to th« au- 
thor, equally flattering with the above. 

LEVIZAC'S FRENCH GRAMMAR; a theoretical and practi- 
cal Grammar of the French Tongue, in which the present usage is 
displayed, agreeal)ly to the decisions of the French Academy. By 
M. De Levizac. 1 vol. 12mo. 

PLAYFAIR'S EUCLID ; Elements of Geometry, containing the 
first six Books of Euclid, with a Supplement on the (Quadrature of 
the Circle, and the Geometry of Solids: to which are added, P21e- 
ments of Plane and Si»lierical Trigonometry. By John Playkaii?, 
F. R. S., Professor of Natural Philosophy, formerly of Mathema- 
tics, in the University of Ediidnirgh, From the last Loudon edi- 
tion, enlarged, 1 vol. 8vo. 

JACOBS' GREEK READER; by Frederhtc Jacobs, Professor 
of the Gynmasiimi at Gotha, and Editor of the Anlhologia, together 
with Imprtwements, additional Notes, and Corrections; by David 
Patterson', A. M., late Rector of the Grammar School of Kirk 
wall, and Teacher of Languages in New- York, 1 vol. 8vo. 

ELEMENTARY PRIMER, or First Lesions for Children; bemg 
an Introduction to the Elementary Spelling Book. By Noah Web- 
ster, LL.D. 





A DISSERTATION OiN THE USE AND ABUSE OF TO- 
BACCO, wherein the advantages and disadvantages attending the 
consumption of that entertaining weed, are particularly considered. 
Addressed to all the Tobacco Consumers. By Adam Clarke, 
L.L. D. 

CLARKE'S COMMENTARY on the Old and New- Testament, 
complete in 6 vols, royal octavo, well bound. Methodist Book 
Room edition— Price Sn,34. 

The New Testament alone, same edition and same style of bind- 
ing, in two vols.— Price ^4,00. 

METHODIST HYMNS.— Methodist Book Room edition— four 
diiferent sizes, at the following prices : viz. 

I2ni<». plain slippp, $\ 00 

24 " do. 50 

48 " do. 50 

72 " on Pearl type, do. 31 

All the books published by the Methodist Book Concern, are sup- 
plied, (either at wholesale or retail,) precisely on their terms. 

SCHOOL BOOKS.— Webster's, Picket's, Cobb's, Bentley's, and 
Cunmiing's Spellings ; DaboH's, Willett's, Colburn's, Pike's, 
Smith's, Smiley 's and Emerson's Arithmetics ; Olney's, Wood- 
bridge's, and Parley's Geographies ; Murray's English Reader, Se- 
quel, Exercises, and Key ; Kirkham's, Murray's, and Green's 
Cirannnn rs ; Hazen's Symbolical Primers, and Speller and Definer ; 
English Reader, School Testaments, &c. ; Introduction to Popular 
Lessons, &c. &c. &c. 

M'ET-TIATH fc BANGS liavo ronstnnlly for s:jle, at the lowest piicca, either at 
wiiolesaleor retnil, an_^extensiv(! assortiiKMit ofTheological, Historical, Classical, 
School .111(1 Miscelaiieoiis liook::^, amoiii; which are the following: — 

Paley's Works, complete in I vol., Hiuiler'.s Sacred Biography, Dick's Christian 
PhiloBoplier, do. Kntiire State, do. Philosophy of Relicion, Henry's and Clarke's 
Coinineiit.iries on th(! Bible, Prideaiix's Coiiinxions, Ilollin, Joscphus, Kinne on 
the TyP':''! Hannah More's \Vork.<, Pickerinij't; and Groves' Greek and Englitih 
IjO.xicons, Buyer's French Dictionary, Ainsworth's Latin do., Jjemprier's Classi- 
cal do., Shnpson's and Playlair's Euclid, Ouarfn, Octavo, ScJinol ajid Pocket Bi- 
bles of eviny kind, .lonriial of Health 2 vols., .Jonrnal of Law 1 vol. An assort- 
ment of Siiiooj D.ioks, &c. &c. Sunday School Liiiraries furnished on tlie most 
leasonahle Iciins. LiherJtl disconni to wfiolesale pnrchascip. Ordors from any 
part of liie ( 'iiited .'Hales attended to [ironiptly. 



NEW JUVENILE WORK, 

TITF, FIRST FIVE VOLUMES OF 

TITE SCHOOL LIBRARY 

OP 

USEFUL AND GENERAL KNOWLEDGE. 

Vol.. I.— EASY LESSONS, selected from Mrs. Barbauld, Mr. 

Day, Miss F.dgeworth, and others, with several hundred cuts— a 

moflt iiiteresliiia work for voung cipldren. 
Vol,. |f,_ST(MlY OF PRANK, from Miss Edgeworth. This 

book is one of the most ^lopular juvenile works in our language, as 

well as the most outertaining and instructive. 



XT TfT PTFASING STORIES, seUcUd iVom Wr. Cvabbe, 

animal, vcsretablc, and i^i"^^,i;^\- ^ ^^ aiTADRUPEDS ; from 
Mrs. Trimmer and others. It contanis upwaiu^ 
engravings of animals. , . i i 

' The above work is printed on g-l 1™P« -•' '^^ Ld° by cvTy 

srSorri^.unc:r^^^^^^^^^^ 

•-^rrS"°r:orr":r"Sl'crntain .*e.ions .on, .he 

Percy Anecdotes. 

T"TTF snHOOL LIBRARY . . , 

Uiing to which the '""^^^""^^"'''"^^ff ." '^ u. ,.aturity,as class hooks, and arese- 
are Idaptecl to aittcic.u ages, trom inf' ;^> | ^ au' i Mi?s lMli;cwoith, Mrs. Fen_ 
looted fmm M. r.erquin, Mrs. l^f 'li^^'^'v; „,t^;"\,^^^ aftl.rd usefu 

wick, Mr. Crabbe, Count ^^'f^^^J'"^^\,,t volun.cs consist mv^noi 
knowledge on a great variety '^ ^j 'J^ ^^\^- , ,^ ^j calculated to form the luyenilc 
stories of amiable conduct ui ch Idre . J '« >«; ^^'^^ ^„,, carelessness, which pro- 
mind to virtue; and also ot f If '7,,;1 ' ^ ,^^^^^^^ selection of Anecdotes cou- 

duced dreadful accidents and .1 ^J \^^^*1\^,, \^^^^ ^. ,re au honour to human nature, 
'^X^^^^^y^l^X^^'^^^^ economy, raised themselves to 

mature age, as well as to youth, nd ^" J^^^^^g^^^J^iil legulatio.i of the co.iduct 
S::i^\t.\^a,^^lSSe PU>SiSffi4lth and the prevention ol disease. 

-StiSlT^S^S^uina..^^^^ 

be deferred till the J^'lg"^^"^ ^^ ;\'^, ^ ,;^„, , on^y impressed on the intant and 

which tliis work contains were caily ami siio'is y i 

^uS^d mind, it would ^^^-)-^^;^;::^^:;^^'S^ZSS^ ,hereadiug.of u.e- 

^ By devotinji an hour every ^^y; Vh l keh to he ibrmed, which nec.-ssarily pro- 
fnl books, correct principles would b(' l'|\'> f^. "^ \\y both white and black, who 

dee light actions.' U is the ^^V'^l'^^^ who fil Imu Vrisons. As men be^ 

destroy themselves by stronji <^"» V.", wiU onf eg ilar iiulustry they canno enj y 
.:omc e'nlightened, ^'-^ -'" ^.^II e^ IJi^;,' ' ud luost lasting pleasure is alioided 
health or liappiness ; and that the .leaic :,„prP8t- 

bv doing good toothers. „„„rnllv and all others who leel mifiresi 

It is Iwoed that parents and teachers ^e" '" ly, am a o knowledge 

moling its ciiculation. mcELRATH & BANGS, 85 Chatham aUeet. 



